A Family Bond
by MoonlitxAngel
Summary: He'd always been frightened by fire... Weird visions of a small boy... A girl claiming to be your sister... Was it all true, or was it a trick of Xana's?
1. Fear

_**Fear**_

_** A/N: Yay! Ever since I came up with the idea for this fic I've been really excited for it. =D From what I've looked at, there is NO OTHER FIC LIKE IT! It's one of a kind. X3 I wanted to do Disappearance first, though. =3 So, here's chapter one!**_

__"He can't get out himself!" Anna Stern shouted to one of the firefighters standing in front of her burning, childhood home. The house had been in her family since her mother was a child… She was watching all those memories be destroyed… They weren't even sure how the fire started…

"Please remain calm, Ma'am… We have men in there looking for him right now," one of the firefighters that had come told her in a soothing voice, trying to calm the frantic woman.

She clung to her husband's arm and nearly caught herself crying again…

Johan Stern stroked his wife's hair and looked up at the house… Ulrich was on the second floor in his room when the fire started… They'd thought he'd heard the fire alarm going off… "Make sure to cover his eyes when you find him. He won't let anyone touch him out of fear if they're not… He's tremendously afraid of fire…" He kissed his wife's forehead and directed his attention to her. "Don't worry… They'll get him…"

She looked away as the flames engulfed her home… The fire was fighting for a way to the top of the building and it was nearly destroyed…

-Ulrich-

He hugged his knees tightly to his chest, the fire surrounding him shining in his green eyes… Truthfully, he was terrified… He couldn't move… Fear held him still in its iron grip and wouldn't allow him to move or speak as the flames licked the walls and destroyed all his personal possessions.

"I found the kid!" he heard a husky voice yell from the doorway. It was unfamiliar to him… He felt he'd been in this situation before… He shut his eyes tightly. The smoke was starting to burn them…

"Ulrich, honey, your father and I are safe!" he heard his mother shout over the roar of the fire.

"It's okay, kid. We're going to get you out of here and down there to your parents," the man that had been at the door said soothingly as he picked up the fear-stricken boy and proceeded to get him out of the house.

As soon as he was outside and able to steadily stand on his own two feet his mother ran up and hugged him tightly. "Are you alright…?" she asked, checking him over as Mr. Stern walked up.

"J-Just a l-l-little sh-shaken…" he whispered, making sure that he couldn't see the writhing orange and red flames behind him…

"I'm so happy you're alright…" she told him, hugging him tighter and letting go to kiss his forehead. "I'm so sorry… I'm not even sure how that entire fire started… I left the food on the stove for one moment and next thing I know the entire kitchen is on fire…"

"As soon as the firefighters leave we're getting packed up and we'll stay at a hotel tonight and your mother and I will look for a new house tomorrow…" his dad said as the firefighters left, warning them to be more careful next time…

"We'll have to sell the land and clear the rubble so someone can build here again…" his mom said as the three climbed into the car, one of the few things saved from the fire.

"I'll see about that when we get a new house. For now we need to focus on getting somewhere stable to live before the school term starts."

Ulrich leaned his head against the cool glass window and watched the smoldering remnants of his childhood home… For as far back as he could remember he'd lived there… Well, his first memories are from a vacation they'd taken to Japan when he was four. He remembered from somewhere in the middle of the vacation to the end and onwards… He didn't know why it was, it just happened like that.

As they started moving he thought he saw a girl with chocolate brown hair pulled into an elegant bun in between the back and side of her head and a man that looked much older than her looking at the wreckage of their house and then looking back at the car.

(*)(*)(*)(*) A Few Days Later (*)(*)(*)(*)

"Ulrich," his dad stated from their new kitchen table as he walked groggily down the stairs. He'd have trouble getting to sleep the night before and his parents were making him get ready for school… He'd been hoping to get more sleep once they left for work.

"The closest school to here is Kadic Academy. It's a boarding school, but I'm going to give you two options. The school is within walking distance and you could easily make it. Your choices are that you either live at the school or you live here full-time and only go to school when school's in session and then leave," his dad stated simply as he sipped at his coffee.

Ulrich thought about it. He knew that he'd like to see what it was like to live away from his parents. Of course, they were in walking distance of where he'd be so he could easily visit if he got permission. It might be easier to make friends, too, if he was at the school. "I'll be a boarder."

"You'll make friends at your new school, I know it…" his mom whispered as she handed him a plate of chocolate chip pancakes with butter and syrup.

"Thanks, but you know I just don't fit in with other kids, Mom. There's something about me that isn't like them and they get afraid or don't like it so they don't talk to me. I've gotten used to it," he stated as he began eating, hopefully finishing the conversation.

"It doesn't matter if you've gotten used to it or not… Please make an honest effort to make friends…" his mother pleaded as his dad went and rinsed out his cup.

He sighed, rolled his eyes behind her back, and nodded. "I'll try, but I won't promise anything.

(*)(*)(*)(*) Break (*)(*)(*)(*)

In half a year so much had changed… He'd made a great group of friends. Jeremie Belpois, Odd Della Robbia, Yumi Ishiyama, and Aelita were their names and they were fighting in a virtual universe called Lyoko. Just recently they'd freed Aelita from there.

-Break-

"Zephyr, do you think we'll ever find him again…?" a girl with short chocolate brown hair and piercing green eyes asked the man standing next to her.

Pulling his hand through is red hair, the man sighed. His purple eyes were scanning the new area before the two and he still saw no signs of the family that had owned the property… "I don't know, Aivillia…"

"If people hear you calling me that then we're in trouble…" she whispered as a couple walked up to the wreckage of the old home. "They tried to kill him again…"

"Then we need to get to him," Zephyr explained lightly, acting as if it weren't that big a deal. "We can't let them get him…"

"We don't know where they moved to."

"Look at that couple there," he ordered her, pointing to a man and woman that were standing in the wreckage, helping move the last bits and pieces of the old house out.

"What about them?"

"They're the couple from that car. The one that was driving away with Tristam."

She squinted her eyes and then said bluntly, "I don't see it."

Zephyr sighed and shook his head in defeat. "You are one of the hardest people to talk to."

"And you're one of the hardest people to understand," she huffed, crossing her arms against her chest. "Listen; let's just follow them if you think you're so smart. If he's around we'll find him."

"I have a feeling that they're the right people, Lia… You remember that one time that you ditched him in the forest area and came to find me in the mountains and you could tell exactly where he was even though he'd moved?"

She nodded and gave him a 'so what?' kind of look.

"If you could do that then so can I. I feel that if we follow them that we'll find him… I only have a week till I have to go back. You've got about three, right?"

She nodded and watched as the couple got into the car and everyone else dispersed.

The two began to follow the car. They'd still have to wait for a place to go…

"I have three weeks till I get sick. Next time don't leave early without me," she told him in a scolding tone.

_**A/N: That's more of a prologue to set the stage. XD So, who is Tristam? Who are Zephyr and Aivillia? Where do they come from? Why is Ulrich afraid of fire? Who are the people trying to get rid of Aivillia and Zephyr's brother? XD That all shall be answered in time my dear reviewers. X3 I love all your input, so hit that little blue button down there. X3 Oh, and Aivillia is pronounced eye-ee-vee-lee-uh. Though, I'm thinking it'll be eye-vee-lee-uh. It's easier to pronounce. XD**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	2. You Don't Remember?

_**You Don't Remember?**_

_** A/N: Alright, so these first two chapters here were written in a two day period. Day 1 was writing out the chapter and getting out the ideas. Day 2 was editing, switching things around, and deleting stuff. I'm glad that I did or this story might not have happened. XD You want to know where I got the idea? We were watching 'Too Young to Marry' in Health class and a commercial came on for this movie called 'Little Boy Lost'. It talked about a family who had though they'd lost their young son/little brother in a fire at their house. The mom thought the boy was alive, but the other people in her family told her that he was dead and gone. Later on it showed that she found her son, but he didn't remember them. XD No, this isn't completely like that. I only got the fire idea from it. XD**_

_** To the chapter!**_

__Ulrich tiredly rested his elbows on the lunch table in the cafeteria and looked out the glass window. Classes were his least favorite part of school and there weren't enough breaks. He liked spending time with his friends, but was upset that he couldn't go stay with his parents over the weekend, even with the Xana threat, because they were cleaning up around their old house. His mom worried it would cause flashbacks or something so he couldn't go, too.

"Hey Ulrich, are you alright?" Jeremie asked from his seat across the table from the brunette.

Ulrich nodded. "I'm just thinking about the house I used to live in." He looked outside again. It was a pretty decent day. The sun was shining and everything looked like it was covered in sparkles because it had just got done raining.

He'd had to stay inside while it was raining earlier because lightning had hit a tree and it had caught fire. Everyone else was watching, but he was in his room dealing with this strange flashback or vision that he was having from catching a glimpse of the burning tree…

_**=Flashback/Vision thing=**_

___"Mommy!" a little boy dressed in a charred jacket, jeans, and a green shirt yelled out into the burning woods, toward the soon-to-be remnants of their vacation home. "Mommy, where'd you go?"_

_ "-! We're here! Follow my voice!" the mother's voice echoed around him. He could hear her voice from every direction, making following it impossible._

_ "You're not going anywhere…" a voice said from the trees in front of the small boy._

_ He cringed away from it and began running in the opposite direction before he was stopped by a tremendous wall of fire._

_ The man laughed as he walked into the small clearing that the boy was in. "Did you really think, my dear -, that you could get away from us that easily?"_

_ The boy jumped higher than most humans would think possible and sat in a tree, looking down at the man on the ground. "Yes, yes I did. It seems you're cheating though."_

_ "Oh, how am I cheating when you're not?" the man asked, walking closer to the tree the boy was sitting in._

_ "I can't help it if I don't come from here. I can't help it that I'm probably smarter than you and more so than you'll ever be." The boy climbed higher into the tree and started making his way across the wall of fire and toward the remnants of the house that they'd been staying in. If this guy thought that he chose to be smart he was wrong. It was just the way his family was…_

_=End Flashback/Vision thing=_

As Ulrich focused outside the window again he saw a girl that looked strangely familiar wandering around near the forest and talking up into the trees.

"Guys… I have to go and get something from the dorms before the bell rings. I'll see you in class," he stated quickly, not waiting for his friends to respond before picking up his backpack and rushing outside.

By the time he got over there the girl had disappeared. As he looked around he heard rustling from above his head.

"Boo!" the girl shouted above him, jumping down from the tree that she had apparently situated herself in. She had short-ish brown hair that was tied back out of her face. Her eyes were the same piercing green as his own.

A man, looking twenty or so, stepped out from the cover of the leafy trees and looked Ulrich up and down. "I told you, Lia."

"Shut up," the girl replied, crossing her arms against her chest and pouting.

"Are you two following me or something?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the two and looking toward the cafeteria window, watching for his friends. He hoped that none of them saw him and came over to find out why he wasn't in the dorms.

"Of course, silly. You didn't think that we'd leave you here without us to die, right?" the girl, Lia, asked him with a goofy grin.

"If you know the school is going to be attacked or something then you should be telling Mr. Delmas, the principal, not me. I can show you where his office is," he offered. He was completely confused. This girl was treating him like her knew her… but did he?

"I told you, Lia," the older boy said, looking down at the girl.

"Hmph," she huffed. "You really don't remember us?"

Ulrich shook his head and looked at the two more closely. They looked familiar, but familiar enough for Ulrich to admit to them that he might know them. They could be some weird stalkers or business rivals of his dad's. He'd been shown pictures, but he couldn't recall some faces… Looking over his shoulder he spotted Odd casually making his way over.

"Lia, go distract him. I'll talk to him," he stated, nodding toward Ulrich with his head. "I'll see if I can get anything out of him." Odd was getting closer.

"You owe me, bro," she stated simply as she walked up to Odd and began speaking to him.

"Listen to me. My name is Zephyr, but if you mention me you will call me Seth or all three of us are in deep shit. You not knowing the truth puts you and us in danger… It's going to sound crazy at first, but hear me out. Lia and I are your older siblings. Lia is sixteen, one year older than you if I remember correctly, and I'm twenty-one. Since you're ignorant of the rules for your being here in this place you won't get in trouble for breaking them. I warn you, though. If you slip up enough people will question you and the attempts at killing you will be bigger than house fires. They'll think that you've reverted to your normal intelligence level and they'll expect you to be able to solve the puzzles they put out for you. I'm Seth and she's Lia. She'll tell you her real name when she gets rid of the blonde one over there."

"Odd," Ulrich stated, obstinately crossing his arms against his chest. He didn't believe a word of this.

"His name is odd or is actual name **is** Odd?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"His real name is Odd. I have a question. Why should I believe single word that comes out of your mouth?"

"You'll eventually know the truth. Whether you believe me and Lia or the people that are out to try and kill you is your choice, but you should know that father is very worried about you."

"He's going back inside. If anyone asks, we're his relatives. Oh, and he goes by Ulrich now," Lia walked over and said before she took her spot beside Seth.

"Right now father is dying. He's an old man and he's nearing the end of his life… He asked us to come here and bring you home… We've been searching for you everywhere that we thought you'd be and finally got a tip leading us to you. Your first memories are somewhere in a visit to Japan, are they not?" Seth asked him, scrutinizing him.

"What does that have to do with it?" Ulrich asked as he began to freak out. No, scratch that. He was way past freaked out.

"Our family was visiting Japan when the fire started… You got separated from us and Mom called for you. You answered back a few times, but then we heard this crashing noise and saw a tree fall. You screamed and when we looked for you once the fire had died down enough we couldn't find you… We thought you'd died…" Lia whispered the last part, tears lining her eyes.

"How do I know that I can trust you?" he asked, looking at the pair and then back toward his friend. They were watching him like hawks and it made him feel awkward… The bell was going to ring soon…

"Lia, you stay here with him. I'll go home and see what Dad knows and I'll come back as soon as I can," Zephyr told her, giving her a small smile and a hug.

She nodded and watched him leave before turning back toward Ulrich. "Alright! I'm going to be staying in your room. I don't mind if you make me sleep on the floor or not. I refuse to go home until you're coming with me, even if that means that I die," she stated stubbornly as the bell rang, signaling the ending of lunch and the beginning of the boring afternoon classes.

_**A/N: I like writing chapters that are longer than 1,000 words. =D This would have been out today (Friday) had I not started late b/c my mom had the laptop. D= I started late yesterday, too. =P Though, the other one will go before this one so that doesn't really matter… I want to keep one back in advance in case I end up getting stuck or not able to update. XD Umm… You'll learn more as always as we go along. XD I bet you think you've got stuff figured out. XD I'd love to hear what you're thinking about Aivillia and Zephyr so far. XD And about their mysterious brother. XD Well, let me tell you that you probably aren't even close… XD**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	3. Searching for Answers

_**Searching for Answers**_

_** A/N: Yay for me! X3 Grr… Watching TV and trying to type a chapter doesn't work for me very well. XD I get too distracted. XD So, I chose that Aivillia is said (eye-vee-lee-uh). And don't worry. You'll learn a bit more 'bout Aivillia and her brother in this chapter. XD**_

_** To the story!**_

__"Uh… I need your room number," Lia stated as the two walked slowly toward the cafeteria and then around it.

"You understand that I don't really want you around, right?" Ulrich stated, turning on his heels and staring at her.

"Well, you're going to have to deal with me, little bro. I'll find your room number one way or another," she stated with a small laugh as she walked backwards beside him and did a few back flips to show off.

"Because that makes me feel _so-o-o-o-o-o_ much better…" he told her as Jeremie walked up to him.

"Who're you?" Lia and Jeremie asked each other at the same time.

"Jeremie, this is Lia. Lia, Jeremie," Ulrich stated as he looked at Jeremie and gave him one of those 'Get her away from me' kind of looks.

"So are you a new student?" Jeremie asked as the three walked to Ulrich and Jeremie's next class.

"Nope. I'm visiting Ulrich since our family is cleaning up his old house after that fire. They really don't want any of us kids around it so they told me to come here and visit with my cousin," she explained calmly as they neared the classroom.

"Well, that's nice. Do you see each other often?"

"No, not really. I haven't seen Ulrich since he was five and I was six. Our family doesn't really get together much. Truth be told, my mom thinks that his mom hates us."

"Bye Lia," Ulrich sighed as they walked into class.

Jeremie followed Ulrich after saying good-bye and, after taking his seat, turned to face the brunette. "Why don't you like her?"

"Truthfully, I don't even know her, okay? I saw her hanging around outside at lunch with her brother and probably should have just told Jim. Now she's claiming that I'm her brother and that people are after me to kill me. She told Odd that she was my cousin to get him away from me so that her older brother could tell me all that," he stated as Aelita and Odd walked into the room.

"You should have told me your cousin was so cute," Odd stated, fake pouting and sitting next to Ulrich.

Ulrich groaned and laid his head on the desk, facedown. He heard Jeremie whispering something to Aelita and Odd, but nothing else as his mind raced to find some piece of truth. He didn't want to believe Zephyr… If he was adopted then why hadn't his parents said anything? Why would they keep it a secret from him?

His body seemed to be in a battle… One side of him said to believe Aivillia and Zephyr and the other half was telling him that this was a huge joke or something. Something to separate him from his friends… He found truth in Zephyr's words, but what if he'd been following him? The whole thing started a headache that got more painful the more he thought about it.

"Mr. Stern, would you please sit up and pay attention with the rest of the class?" the teacher asked him harshly, getting a few giggles from the other students in the room.

Ulrich raised his head, but that made the headache worse. "I need to go to the infirmary…"

The teacher rolled their eyes and with a heavy sigh let him leave the class.

Walking down the hallway his headache got increasingly worse until he finally gave in and leaned against a wall and rubbed his temples, head in between his knees. He wished he knew what exactly was causing this, but didn't get the chance to think on it as the pain caused him to pass out.

-Aivillia-

She sat in a tree and looked up at the sky. "Why'd all this have to happen to us? First that man and his daughter disappeared then we couldn't come back to find Tristam and now he doesn't even remember us… Why? What did we ever do to deserve this…?"

Being alone didn't suit her… Growing up she'd always been around someone. Whether it was the old man and his daughter, parents, siblings, friends, family, or just other people from where they were from… Why'd they have to be different? Why couldn't they live like the people at Kadic Academy? Or like all the other people on Earth? Why'd they have to be different? Being alone for Aivillia meant that she had time to think on these things. It meant that she couldn't get help working through her thoughts because she was alone. Being alone for her was like being in a tiny area for a chlosterphobic. It suffocated her until she could find someone to help her sort her thoughts, but now there was no one since Zephyr had gone home…

When the bell rang she nearly fell out of the tree, but rushed all the same to go and meet up with Ulrich and see if she could con anyone into giving her the room number. She got to the door as soon as Odd and Jeremie were headed out along with a girl with pink hair that looked kind of familiar to her...

"Lia, what's up?" Odd asked her as they headed down the hallway, in the opposite direction of where she'd come from.

"Where's Ulrich?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and looking around the group of students behind them.

"He left the class saying he had a headache," he replied as he began walking backwards.

"Odd! Jeremie! Aelita!" one of the students in their grade yelled running up. He caught his breath and then said, "Yolanda told me to come get you guys because someone found Ulrich in the hallway passed out."

"Is he alright?" the girl, Aelita, asked quickly as Lia followed the four people down the halls and to the infirmary.

_If this is the sickness because of Zephyr and me I'm going to have to drag him back… He'll hate me for it, but if it saves his life… _she thought to herself as her brother's friends spoke with the kid that had gotten them. She didn't know what she'd say to this Yolanda person, but she _had _to see him…

As the five walked into the infirmary, the kid that brought them just stating they were there and then left, Yolanda gave her a strange look.

"That's Ulrich's cousin. She was headed toward Mr. Delmas's office to ask to see Ulrich, but she saw us first and asked for direction and tagged along when we were called here," Jeremie explained as they walked toward the bed he was lying on.

"Do you know why he passed out?" she asked, before the others could get a word out.

"I'm not sure. All his vitals are normal and he's breathing normally," she explained as Jeremie looked as if he were thinking about something very important.

Aelita nudged Jeremie's arm and raised an eyebrow.

"I have to go somewhere… Odd, would you keep me posted and let me know when he wakes up?" she asked sweetly, writing the number of the cell phone her father had gotten for her on their last visit on a piece of scrap paper and handing it to him.

"Sure…" he stated, a slight blush to his cheeks.

She smiled and thanked him before leaving the room.

-Ulrich-

_"You're really pushing my patience, -" the man told the young boy as he walked closer and closer to where he now stood._

_ "And you're keeping me from my family, so we're even. Why do you want me to die anyway? What did I ever do to you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow as he continued walking away._

_ "It's not just you. It's your entire family," the man replied, getting in front of the young boy and picking him up by his head._

_ "Get off me! Mommy!" he shouted as he tried to grab the man's arm and jerk himself free._

_ "I'll make sure that you never remember any of this and when the time comes again I will kill you, and you'll have no chance of escape. Even if your family finds you first, I'll be there to kill you and then enact my revenge…" the man stated calmly as he began throwing the younger boy around…_

_**A/N: Well, my plan failed unless I can get two chapters done tomorrow. XD I wanted to stay one ahead, but that was ruined. XD So, more about that little boy… XD Some of you are starting to guess, and I love that. X3 There's definitely a lot more to this story and you'll definitely see Zephyr again. X3 I love Zephyr too much to just dump him off the face of the story never to be seen or heard from again. XD You won't be finding out where they come from anytime soon, but you will get hints from Aivillia, Tristam, Ulrich, and Zephyr as time goes on. XD Note: Tristam is the aforementioned 'little boy' in the flashback/vision things. XD**_

_** Read and review, people! I love your reviews! They're my drug! XD (And no, I don't do drugs. We had this discussion in Left Behind. XD)**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	4. A New Player

_**A New Player**_

_** A/N: Alright, I'm going to be working on these for two days at a time. =) On the weekends I'll probably get a chapter out a day. This one will be the last one that isn't done during a two day period. It would have been out yesterday, but I started late and didn't get to finish. XD Summer break is coming for me soon, so that means that I'll be updating everyday at that point. X3 May 25 is my last day and at that point I'll be updating everyday because I'll have more time. X3 Don't worry. There will be days that I'll update everyday, but being able to update every other days works for me right now. Maybe once we finish with all the 'learning' parts of school and start studying for finals during classes. X3**_

_** To the story!**_

__"I don't care if I'll have less time! I have to go back and talk to Dad!" Aivillia yelled to Zephyr as they stood to the entrance to where their father was staying.

"Lia, you know that if you go back you'll only have a week and a half. Just tell me what you want to know and I'll ask him," Zephyr ordered as he looked up at the sky. She could be so obstinate. Smoking was prohibited here, it couldn't really even be done, so he'd have to wait till he was back on Earth. Maybe he'd be able to kick the habit this time…

"It won't make as much sense and you can't ask him the questions that I need to or answer if he wants to know something!" she complained.

Sometimes he swore that Tristam had been the older of his younger siblings. He acted so much more mature for a five-year-old. Heck, even now he acted more mature than she did. "Lia, you can't. Do you want to end up losing him again? We can't let the others get to him…"

"Then ask father to come out here! If he doesn't come out then I'm going in and you're not going to stop me, Zephyr," she stated, crossing her arms and glaring up at him. He wasn't that much taller, but he was still intimidating to her.

Zephyr sighed again and looked at her with a bored expression. "If you come in then I'm going to make sure that you're punished this time. You need to keep looking while I can't and you know it."

She stuck her tongue out at him and waited while he went inside.

-Ulrich-

_This time it seemed they moved a bit backwards in time… The younger child was now a bit younger, probably about four in age, and the family was some sort of beach that Ulrich had never seen…_

_ "Momma, look at this! I found it!" the younger boy exclaimed as he held up at tiny seashell for his mother to look at._

_ "That's gorgeous, sweetie!" his mother gushed, taking the small shell and holding it up to the sun so she could see the colors bouncing off the surface._

_ "Momma, will Daddy ever come back…?" he suddenly asked, sitting in his mother's lap. It was the place that he felt safest._

_ "Sure he will sweetie… Don't worry about a thing… Daddy and Zephyr just went to go make sure that everything is safe for you…" she whispered, moving a stray piece of hair out of his eyes._

_ "Is that because I'm the youngest…?" he asked, looking up to see his mother's expression. He could always tell when she was lying to him and he needed to know the truth. He wanted to be the safest that he could be. He wanted to protect himself…_

_ "Yes… Due to the fact that you're our youngest and last child people will come after you… Your father and I knew after we had you that you'd be our last… You are unique… More unique than anyone else here and everyone knows it… They know that you must be protected… If you died then our entire civilization might end up destroyed… I know you're smart enough to be able to handle that…"_

_ "Mom! Andreandres's mother is looking for you!" Aivillia shouted from farther down the beach._

_ "Would you like to come with me, Tristam?" she asked, moving him off her lap and standing up._

_ Ulrich was astounded. That was the first time that the woman had said the child's name… Hearing that name made something click inside his head and nearly dragged him back to reality before he was shot into another scene…_

_ If he was supposedly Tristam he didn't know why he was watching this scene… He hadn't even been there for it._

_ A ten year old Aivillia and a fourteen year old Zephyr stood before an older looking man. He looked to be in his forties._

_ "Children, I am sending you after your brother. I do not care how long it takes you. Tristam must be found before he turns eighteen. When he turns eighteen they will get him… He will have been there too long for him to ever be fully accepted into our society again… He may be important to our survival, but I know that much for certain. Your mother was already murdered for his disappearance… You know the location of the house that burned down. You know the location that he was at when you last saw him. He must be somewhere. I have little faith that he remembers us, or this life for that matter. All he may know is what he was taught after he was found. I have no doubt in my mind that someone found your brother. He had a way of calling people to him…" the man stated, looking at Aivillia and Zephyr with a loving glance._

_ "We won't let you down, Father… We won't stop until we find him and bring him home safe and sound," Zephyr stated as he pulled Aivillia away before she could say something to embarrass herself._

_ "Zephyr, what if we can't find him… What if we can't avenge Mother's death…?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper._

_ Zephyr shook her by the shoulders and stared into her eyes. "We __**will**__ get Tristam back. I swear that even if it's the last thing that I do I'll bring our little brother back here and safe and sound…" he whispered as a few others walked by, looking for their father. "Our family is the most advanced here. That's why everyone comes to Father. He understands what he's talking about. The Creators won't get us… I promise… I'll fight till my last breath to keep you guys all safe."_

_ "That's not your job, Zephyr," their dad stated as he walked out of the room he'd been holed up in. "That's what I'm supposed to do. If ever comes the time that only you children can survive I want you to take it. Your mother and I went through much to make sure that you children were safe. We wanted to make sure that you weren't in the Creators' clutches. If ever you find yourself in danger get away, whether it means leaving us adults behind or not."_

_ Ulrich saw the two nod and was pulled from the area and into a floating expanse. This must have been his mind's way of sorting out the new information. He couldn't be this being called Tristam, could he?_

_=End=_

Ulrich sat up quickly, sweat running down his forehead.

"Good, you're awake. How're you feeling?" Yolanda asked as he slowly laid himself back down on the bed.

"I feel a lot better…" he replied as he thought about what he'd seen while was way resting. Could it all just be some coincidence?

"Your friends and cousin were here earlier, but they had to leave. As soon as I make sure that you're alright I'll let you go look for them," she stated as she walked over and did a routine check-up/examination.

-Odd-

Ulrich was going to be pissed at him and he knew it… He'd told Lia their room number… She would have eventually found out sooner or later, anyway… He knew he could blame it on Sissi, though.

Humming he walked down the hallway and spotted a red-haired girl walking through with a laptop. "Ummm… Can I help you?"

The girl looked over her computer and moved her headphones to the area around her neck. "I'm a new student." Her hair was in between light and dark red. She wore a white T-shirt with a red, unzipped jacket over it. She wore khaki pants, sneakers, and goggles on the top of her head. "I just needed to bring my laptop and decided to walk around and so if a friend of mine was around. My name is Lirril. And yours?" She balanced her laptop on one arm and stuck out her hand for him to shake.

He took it and replied with a grin, "Odd Della Robbia. Oh, I'll give you a fair warning in advanced. Sissi Delmas is evil. Stay away from her."

"Thanks. Well, I'd best be off and find him…" she stated as she walked off, waving to Odd and then position her laptop again.

_**A/N: Alright! New OC that I know I'm going to fall in love with. X3 Right now I plan for there to three more like her and I've got pictures posted on my photobucket. http:/s801(dot)photobucket(dot)com(slash)albums/yy295(slash)MoonlitxAngel/Code%20Lyoko%20OC%20Pics/**_

_**PLEASE GO TO THAT LINK AND LOOK AT THEM! I won't be able to describe them all as well as I should and I want you guys to be able to see them. =3 I have it set to a password so that not just anyone could get in, so the password is CodeLyoko . Lirril and the others will become very important soon. =3**_

_** Read and review! Next update=Friday**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	5. To Believe Or Not

_**To Believe… Or not**_

_** A/N: Alright, for those of you that couldn't get to the pictures please remember to take out all the (dot) and (slash) things. There are two of each, if I remember right. =3 I can get to it and someone else can. CodeLyoko is the password to them. X3 Umm… If you've got a log-in name let me know and I'll PM you, because I saw an anonymous review (thanks for the review, by the way) and they had the same issue… I might just refind all of them and send you the google links. =3 Oh, and a special thanks to flyboy961 for all his help with plot and such. X3**_

_** To the story!**_

__Aivillia sat on Ulrich's bed and waited for him to return. She couldn't get a hold of Jeremie, Aelita, or Odd so she couldn't find her way back to the infirmary, not matter how many times she tried, so she opted to stay in their room until he returned.

Realizing her mistakes was something that she loathed doing. When someone would point out a mistake of hers or point out a flaw she normally became angry. Like she had at Zephyr when she'd gone in after him… Even their father was mad, but she found out what she wanted to know. If she used words that her younger brother had been familiar with then maybe those memories might break through.

When the door opened and Odd and Ulrich walked in Aivillia smiled and looked at Ulrich. He looked deep in thought. "So Odd, have a nice time off with Jeremie and Aelita?"

"Well, not really. That's why I'm here. I ditched after awhile because I knew they were wrong about something. Then I met the new girl, Lirril. She seems like she might get along well with Jeremie and Aelita. She was carrying a laptop and had huge headphones over her ears, so I can tell she likes music," Odd stated, flopping down on his bed with a grin.

"Wait, did she have red hair and goggles on her head?" Lia asked quickly, standing over Odd in urgency. "Did you see where she was headed to?"

"Yeah, she did… How'd you know? And I have no idea… She said she was trying to find a friend of hers," he replied calmly. He didn't see the urgency in her eyes or hear it in her voice.

She let out a frustrated sigh and threw a pillow at the wall. "You'd better not talk to her." She left the room quickly.

"What was that about?" Odd asked, looking over at Ulrich.

He shrugged and looked up at the ceiling, too lost in thought.

-Zephyr-

He slammed his fist into the wall and excused himself. As he walked back to his room he decided to draft an e-mail to Aivillia. It was one of the few ways that the two could communicate when he was here, at home, and she was on Earth. She needed to know that those people were there, if she didn't already…

"Please, remain calm… They can't do anything to him while he's on the school's grounds… They can't make it look too big or the police would get involved and find the Creators…" his father came in and sat down next to Zephyr on his bed.

"Tristam won't believe us, Dad… Lia's there by herself and I know she can't take all four of them down on her own…" he whispered, the worry showing in his voice. No matter how annoying Aivillia or Tristam could have been or are he still loved them and didn't want anything bad to happen…

"If worse comes to worse I'll go there myself. I haven't left this house since your mother's death and I need to get out…" he stated as he situated himself in Zephyr's computer chair.

"Yeah, and I'll be able to go back in about a week, so at least since Lia came in here when I asked her not to I can be there. I'd at least be able to hold them off till you or someone else came to help."

"Now you're thinking in your right mind…"

-Aivillia-

She moved quietly down the hallway and down to the room that was nearest the stairs. She was ready to check every single room if she had to, but was able to here Zender's voice through the door.

"Information?" she heard Zender asked in his usual bored tone. He was about as old as Zephyr was. He'd come to their father asking for them to return to the Creators, whoever they were, and that they'd get fixed. Her father hadn't wanted that, so he said no. Zender had then tried to seduce her. It hadn't worked and he got frustrated and left. She knew little about the other three of the others that she knew were there. Since the first incident Zender, Aiko, Lirril, and Amelina had been working together.

"He goes by Ulrich Stern. He's a star athlete, soccer, at this school. Aiko and Amelina hit his house 6 months ago when we went through that neighborhood. He hangs out with the ones called Jeremie Belpois, Odd Della Robbia, Aelita Stones, Yumi Ishiyama, and some girl that students are saying is his cousin. She has no records on file so I assume she's just visiting. He does not know that he is adopted and he shares a room with the child called Odd. They seem to be hiding a secret. I tailed them earlier today and lost them in the woods when I looked away because I heard something behind me," she heard Lirril explained as she typed on her keyboard. She knew she was typing because of the faint clacking of the keys.

"You've done well… If we can get close to the child then we won't have to resort to brute force. If we bring him to our side then maybe the rest of the tribe of 'prototypes' will follow. The Creators demanded it and we shall obey them," she heard a girl's voice, probably Aiko or Amelina, say.

"Thank you. I shall continue to get closer to Odd Della Robbia," Lirril stated.

Aivillia quickly retreated back to Ulrich and Odd's room before anyone left. "Don't you dare forget what I said."

_**A/N: Again, more Aivillia and Zephyr centric, but I PROMISE that the next chapter will have more Ulrich in it. X3 Alright, I changed my mind (again… -_-"). I'll make those chapters that I special edit as treats for you guys. ^-^ Reasons are: 1.) I get bored too easily… I'm like you guys. I can't wait for the next chapter either. ^o^ 2.) I'm easily distracted. So, if I have the TV going or am talking to someone or have music going or am watching something or am reading something or etcetera then I can't focus. XD Next chapter, tomorrow. X3**_

_**TabbiCC: Thanks for the review! X3 You wouldn't happen to be an author I know, would you? What fandom is World Unseen in?**_

_** Read and review everyone, please!**_

_**Odd-We'll hand out cookies! *waving Jeremie's fresh baked cookies around***_

_**Jeremie-Those were for Aelita…**_

_**Ulrich-Someone made Jeremie angry… *sing-song voice***_

_** Hope you enjoyed the chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! X3**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	6. Irritation

_**Irritation**_

_** A/N: As promised this chapter will be more toward Ulrich. =3 There will be bits and pieces of Lia and Seth here and there. XD**_

_** To the story!**_

__Ulrich frowned at his phone. He wanted to call his parents and ask them about what Aivillia was saying… Was it true that they'd found him in some fire? Was it true he was adopted? Was anything really real anymore? Bringing himself to do it was the issue. He didn't know if he wanted to know if what Aivillia was saying was true. Why was it so dangerous to say her name? Why did he even have to go back to them? He understood that his real dad might want to see him, but that didn't change everything else that confused him.

"Ulrich, you look…" Odd scrunched his face up in concentration as he fished for the word he was looking for.

"Like I'm thinking something serious over?" he asked, not even bothering to look over. He didn't want to worry his friends with everything that Aivillia and Zephyr had told him… They'd probably jump to the fact that it was Xana or something like they had earlier. He didn't understand why he got such a headache when he tried to think about anything past that fire… Or when he tried to figure out what Zephyr and Aivillia meant. He could feel one coming on right now. He was getting no one in figuring this all out… He couldn't even think straight when he tried…

"Something's bothering you," Odd stated suddenly sitting up. "I can tell."

"It's nothing, O-"

"Don't tell me it's nothing, Ulrich. You've been acting strange ever since Lia showed up. I know she's claiming to be your sister and everything, but you've got to not let it affect you. What if that's what she wants? I'm not trying to say that she's Xana or anything, but how do you know she's not trying to freak you out or something?"

"You wouldn't get it, Odd. She keeps telling me that I'm in danger. If I say her real name then I could get the both of us in trouble. Lia is a nickname. They're telling me all this stuff and it's really creeping me out, Odd. Anytime that I start trying to remember anything past waking up in the hotel in Japan I start getting a killer headache. Anytime I try to sort all this stuff out… That's why you found me in the hallway. I was thinking about what they'd told me and then the headache got worse and worse until I passed out," he explained quickly. He didn't know if Lia would ever find out about him telling Odd, he didn't even know if she would mind, but he really needed someone else to know. If no one else knew then he might never get it figured out.

"Well, she claims to be your sister, right? Then why not ask your parents if you were adopted?" Odd suggested.

"I can't get up the nerve to do it… I don't know… Maybe I'm not ready for the truth…"

"Do you think you'll ever be 'ready' for it, though?" Odd asked, grabbing his headphones and placing them over his ears, signaling the end to the conversation.

Ulrich watched the ceiling. Would he ever be ready for the truth?

-Lirril-

She couldn't resist the urge to follow Zender out to the woods. She knew that he was looking for Aivillia. They both also knew that the woods were still, and probably always would be, Tristam's comfort zone. He'd been born in a forest, so they heard.

"Lirril, you needn't be worried about me," Zender stated, looking toward where she was hiding.

"I'm not worried, Zender. I just want to see what she says this time," she replied as innocently as she could.

Zender, Aiko, Amelina, and Lirril had been friends since their creation. So, roughly sixteen years now. It was easy for Zender to see through the innocent act. "Fine, just don't get in the way."

She nodded. "Zender, do you think that we can get to him before they do?" she asked as they entered the forest.

"Aivillia and Zephyr have him afraid. He doesn't want to know the truth. If we can show him the truth and get him to believe it then we may be able to get him to follow us. Aiko and Amelina are working on that right now, thanks to the information you recovered."

"I'm glad that I can help in some way. Hey, there she is," Lirril stated, pointing toward a clearing where Aivillia sat, looking at a flower on the ground.

Zender sighed. "Maybe she'll listen to reason this time. She was only twelve last time we spoke."

"Not to mention you probably creeped her out when you tried to get her in bed with you. Do try to be sensitive. Tristam _**is**_ her baby brother."

"And that is where their flaws lie… They recognize family ties as we do not… We only recognize friends and friendships are mandatory for our survival."

Lirril nodded. She knew their place. Why did Zender always remind her of that fact?

-Ulrich-

He took in a deep breath and dialed his mother's phone. He knew he needed to get this stuff straightened out… He'd pass out as many times as needed…

"Ulrich… I thought you said you'd stop asking to come here with us," his mom stated, greeting his call.

"That's not why I called, Mom…" he whispered. She sounded flustered. She must have been working really hard on the house…

"Oh, are you alright? You sound a bit out of it…" his mother asked, her voice taking a worried tone…

"Mom, am I really your son? I mean, did you actually give birth to me?" he asked quickly. If he hadn't asked quickly, he probably wouldn't have asked at all…

His mother was silent on the other line.

"It's true, then? I'm adopted, aren't I?" he asked, sadness creeping into his voice. He didn't want Aivillia to be right…

"Ulrich… I'm sorry… Your father and I didn't want you to find out… We're not even sure who your real parents are… We tried so hard to find them, Ulrich… We really did…" his mother whispered. He could tell that she was close to tears…

"Mom… Do you think that you and Dad could come get me tomorrow and we can all three talk face-to-face about this…? I really don't want to hear the whole story over the phone…" he looked over at Odd, who was oblivious to what was going on, and frowned.

"We'll have all day since tomorrow is Sunday… Alright, I'll let your father know. Just know that you being adopted doesn't mean that I love you any more or any less…" she told him softly.

"I know that, Mom… bye…"

_**A/N: Not much to say here… XD**_

_** Odd-**__**I**__** have something to say.**_

_** Ulrich-Then say it.**_

_** Odd-I don't like being locked in the closet…**_

_** Everyone-O.o"**_

_** Jeremie- =D He stole my cookies. -3-**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	7. Flashes of Memories

_**Flashes of Memories**_

_** A/N: Yay for new chapter! X3 I'd love to hear what all of you think. X3 What do the rest of you think? X3**_

_**TabbiCC: Yeah, I've read that story. It's pretty amazing. =3 Last I saw she was working on a different one. She doesn't update often, but when she does it's really good. Even if you're just reviewing you should have a name on here. It makes reviewing easier sometimes. You'll always run across that one person that has anonymous reviews blocked. Lolz. And we could PM each other. =D**_

_** To the story!**_

__Lirril sat on her bed and threw a bouncy ball against the wall. Talking with Zender always got her mind racing. She knew that they were only supposed to make friends, but over the years their small group of four had begun to feel like a family. If she said it too many times she'd have to be 'fixed', though… It was really difficult to keep those thoughts out of her head when she hung out with Odd Della Robbia. He could make her laugh, which was a rarity for her, and he was really sweet. Though, he seemed to be a real ladies' man…

"Lirril, Zender wants to talk with all of us before breakfast begins," Aiko came in and told her as softly as she could. Aiko had always been a very outspoken person, but here at Kadic she was really shy and quiet.

"Alright, I'll come right away…" she whispered, grabbing the ball and placing it on her pillow. She knew what this was about.

-Ulrich-

"Quit complaining. I'm going to see my parents today, so just go back to sleep," Ulrich told Odd. He'd set an alarm and it had apparently woken the blonde up.

"Ulrich, will you please listen to me?" Lia asked him sitting up. "Please just hear me out…"

"I've already heard what you have to say, Lia. You have no substantial evidence that I am your little brother. Okay, sure you know about that trip to Japan, but it could easily be someone else," he told her irritably. He didn't need her ruining his good mood before he even got it.

"What does the name Tristam mean to you? Or the forest? Or the name Spheilia?" she asked quickly as he headed out the door.

A sudden wave of pain went through his head and he leaned up against the doorframe for support.

_"Tristam, don't run too far now…" a woman stated in a sweet voice._

_ "Spheilia, you have a handsome little boy…"_

_ "The forest will always be your safe haven, son… Don't ever forget that… If you need help the forest will guide you… Trust me…"_

_ "Tristam, please, can you hear me? Tristam!"_

Ulrich nearly fell forward with the next wave of pain, but righted himself. He didn't know what was wrong with him, but he needed to find out the truth soon… "Just leave me alone, okay? I've got a killer headache."

As he left the room he heard her whisper something. He couldn't hear what.

-Zephyr-

He yawned. It was too early to be getting up, but he'd forgotten to turn off the computer he had and had been getting non-stop messages from Aivillia. That girl never gave up…

Walking over and looking the majority of them read: 'Zephyr, I think I know what's going on with Tristam. I wish that we could talk in person, but ask Dad what would happen if whoever got a hold of him had blocked his memories. Would he have weird headaches when he started trying to remember stuff from his past? Wish Dad well and I hope you'll be able to come soon.'

He never understood why she was always OCD with sending him messages until he responded…

-Ulrich-

He wished that life was simpler. Why did it have to be difficult? Could this person just be family and not have someone after them? If Aivillia was his sister and Zephyr his brother then who were Tristam and Spheilia? Tristam was always referred to as a small child, as the one he'd seen in most of the things he saw. He looked to be about four years old… And if he was Aivillia and Zephyr's brother then maybe he was Tristam? And then that would make Spheilia his mother? As he continued to think about he bumped into someone in the hall. "I'm sorry… I wasn't paying attention."

"It's alright," the boy replied. "My name's Zander. You're Ulrich Stern, right? I transferred to this school to be able to play soccer and I've heard from a bunch of people that you're the team's captain. Is that true?"

Ulrich gave a short laugh. "I guess you could call me the captain. It's not really an official title, though. The members of the team just call me captain. So are you going to see if Jim will let you in the middle of the season?"

He nodded. The boy looked a bit strange. His hair was a dirty blonde, but still kind of blonde, color and he looked a bit older than he should be. He wasn't wearing a shirt, meaning he was probably headed to the showers, and Ulrich saw a tattoo on his torso that went from his hips up till about the middle of his chest. It was strange and he was just about to ask when Zander interrupted his train of thought.

"Well, I have to get going before Jim sees me in the halls and wonders what I'm up to half-naked in the halls. I'll see you later!" the guy exclaimed as he took off down the hall.

Ulrich frowned, but continued on his trek toward the cafeteria. He was getting breakfast and then he'd head to the front gates to wait for his parents. He needed to know more about how they'd found him… He wanted to know if they had found anything about his parents… He needed to know if Lia and Seth were telling the truth… If they were he'd still need to search to find out if all they were saying was the truth…

-Aiko-

"Do you think Zender will be able to do it?" she asked Amelina after they'd left Lirril in her room to sulk. Zender had told her off.

"I have faith in him. He's always been really good at that sort of thing and the boy doesn't remember us…" Amelina replied as they headed toward the cafeteria. They knew Ulrich was headed there and after speaking to Zander they'd introduce themselves. Zender's plan wouldn't fail…

_**A/N: How many of you knew Zender was Zander? XD And do you guys have any idea what that tattoo on him translates to? I have no clue. XD I'm going to be looking into it, though. X3**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**Odd-We have cake!**_

_**Jeremie-*grumbles***_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	8. Disaster Strikes  not rly fitting name

_**Disaster Strikes**_

_** A/N: Alright, for all of you waiting for the next chapter of 'One Letter' I'll be updating that hopefully twice over this weekend. =3 I'm too excited for this story right now. XD**_

_**TabbiCC-PM me when you get the account. X3 And it's definitely easier to PM. Though, I don't think anyone really reads either the A/N or the parts that are meant to specific people. XD It'd just be easier if it was a PM. X3**_

_** To the story!**_

__Ulrich sat back in the backseat of the car as his dad drove them to their new house. He knew that eventually he'd have to go back to Japan to find the old house… The house that Aivillia claimed they'd all been in…

"Ulrich, could you open the door? Your father got a new computer desk and he needs to bring it inside," his mom asked as they pulled into the driveway. Driving from Kadic to their house was a short distance, but they'd come all the way from their old house and had the desk. The old house was thirty minutes away, but this house was closer to his dad's place of work.

He nodded and got out of the car. Stepping on to the gravel he heard another voice in his head.

_"Always be careful around the Creators' people… Only one is alright… The one that saved us… His name is –"_

"There's some headache medicine in the cabinet in the bathroom. As soon as you lock the door open for us you can go get some and we can talk in the dining room while we wait on lunch," his dad stated, looking toward him as he rubbed his temples.

"Yeah, I'll go get some…" he muttered as he walked up to the front door, locked it into the open position, and headed toward the bathroom.

After getting the medicine he looked at himself in the mirror and thought about the little boy he always saw… Did he really look like an older version of that boy? The eyes and the hair were the same as the younger boy's and Aivillia had the same eyes, but he couldn't see much else… Most of the time defining facial features weren't there yet, though…

"Ulrich, did you get the medicine?" his mom called from the dining room.

"Yeah, be there in a minute!" he replied. He rubbed cool water over his face, hoping to also dull the headache.

-Zephyr-

"Are you sure you can't call in a favor?" he asked his dad, pleadingly.

"Zephyr, I've already told you. The man already helped us escape from that wretched place. You're lucky he covered for us again after we lost Tristam in that fire. He has already risked himself twice to help us. We cannot ask anymore of him," his father stated firmly.

"Dad! We might have to! If he knows who might have sealed those memories away we might have a chance to get Tristam back! They've already sent Zender, Aiko, Lirril, and Amelina to the school! We can't just-" Zephyr yelled, his palms lying on the table and he leaned forward, yelling.

"That's enough! I _**will not**_ make contact with that man again! He could be the entire reason we were found! You don't understand how these people's minds work!"

"I understand that they're trying to get my baby brother and that he doesn't even know who we are! He speaks of his adoptive parents as if they were his own! He doesn't know that Mom is _**dead**_! He doesn't know that we're his siblings! He thinks that we're some insane people tailing him since he was little! I can't bear to hear Aivillia telling me that he's out there with those Creator's pets as they try to get him away from us! We need-!"

"You need to hold your tongue!" his father roared, the sound echoing through the room. He rarely yelled. "You need to trust that I know what I am doing, Zephyr. You are thinking only about our family, but you need to understand that I have to think about everyone here. It is not just about you, me, Aivillia, and Tristam. It's about everyone that lives with us. Our entire tribe, if you wish to call us that, is dependent upon my decisions. Your mother and I found the adults that are here with us. Your mother and I were relied upon. I am relied upon to keep this tribe or village or group under control and safe. The Creator's would destroy us if they were to find us."

-Ulrich-

"If you've got in pictures just put them in an envelope or something and I'll look at them later… I want to know more about how you found me…" He whispered, looking both of his parents in the eye.

"Well, it was our anniversary and we decided we wanted to go to Japan. Your father's parents helped pay for it because they knew he wanted to do something special for us and he didn't have as much money as we do now. They even let us stay in a vacation home they'd bought around there. One night we were sitting in the kitchen and talking when we saw the forest near the house light up in flames. We called the police and they told us that we should leave the area and not return until the next morning," his mother explained softly, taking his dad's hand.

"When we returned we went exploring through the forest after it was deemed safe. We saw you curled up in a ball underneath some trees. We didn't know why you were there and still don't. We brought you back to our house and called a doctor. They said that if you didn't have significant burn marks, which surprisingly enough you didn't have any, that we should just try to keep you hydrated and bring you in if you didn't wake up in a few hours. We made sure to get water in you and when you woke up you acted as if you were a toddler," his father added, finishing the small story.

"So basically you had to re-teach me everything?" he asked, leaning back in his chair a little to see that there was a message from Jeremie and one from Odd.

His parents nodded.

"After we found you we called everyone around the area, but no one had seen where you'd come from and no one claimed you as their son. We didn't want to leave you in an orphanage and you'd grown on us in the short time that you were with us so we decided to legally adopt you. You didn't even know your name so we named you what we'd planned to name our first son," his mom stated, resting her head on his dad's shoulder.

"I just want you guys to know that whether I find my real parents or not you guys will still be Mom and Dad…" he told them as he stood up and hugged them both.

(*)(*)(*)(*) A Little Bit Later in Ulrich's Room (*)(*)(*)(*)

Ulrich looked at the two messages. He knew that Jeremie's was probably more urgent and Odd's was probably bragging about something or other… He decided to read Odd's first, even though Odd had sent his after Jeremie's.

_**I have a date for tonight! Okay, so that isn't anything new, but I'm still excited! She's real nice, too. I think you'd probably like her. XD Oh, and Jeremie said he texted you. Where were you?**_

_**From: Odd**_

___How'd I know? Right, because we all know that Odd's a ladies' man… Definitely should have read Jeremie's first, though…_

_**Xana.**_

_**From: Jeremie**_

___Well, they're not going to be very happy with me when I go back tomorrow…_

_**A/N: Alright, so that's that. X3 I got busy yesterday and couldn't get the chapter out. XD Anyway, we got to see Zephyr and his dad have an argument! Yay! Or boo… P= Not sure. XD**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	9. Seeing

_**Seeing**_

_** A/N: Alright, so I'm writing this from our other computer. It really bugs me… I really, really hate this computer so you probably won't see a lot of updates from me. And when they are updated it may be sucky because my siblings don't know how to shut up. Not to mention that I just had a really bad day…**_

_** To the story!**_

Lirril hugged her knees. She knew that going on what was called a 'date' with Odd would get her in trouble with Zender if she didn't get any new information, which she didn't plan on doing, but she had to find more out about the humans. It was within her nature to try and find out new information and this was the time to do so. She needed to do this to see if she really could enjoy being with other people that were not Zender, Amelina, or Aiko.

"Hey, you ready?" she heard Odd asked as he knocked on the door.

She nearly fell off her bed at the sudden sound. Quickly steadying herself she made her way over to the door and opened it with a shy smile. "Yup, where are we going?"

"We're going to sneak out of school, which I have done many times so you don't have to worry about getting caught, and we're going to roam around town. Maybe play some small, non-trouble causing, practical jokes," he replied with a huge grin. "But first you have to meet my roommate. He said that if I was going to go out with another girl he wanted to know her so he could beat me over the head properly."

She arched her eyebrow in confusion, but followed him down the hall anyway. She assumed it had to do with his reputation of dating a girl just to show he could get a girl.

"Don't worry about him. He's just crabby because he has a headache. Normally he's a nice guy!" Odd exclaimed as if they weren't trying to sneak around near after curfew. That must be the way he doesn't get caught, she figured.

"Hey Ulrich, are you done looking at those pictures?" Odd asked as he walked straight into the shared room.

Lirril looked around and noticed random articles of clothing lying on the floor along with a suitcase. They were either really messy boys, which was the highly likely answer, or one of them had just come from somewhere.

"Yeah, I'll tell you about it later," the brunette in the room said from his bed. "So I'm assuming that's your date?"

"Yup! Her name's Lirril and she just started going here," Odd stated as if he were proud of the fact. "Lirril, this is my roommate, Ulrich."

She smiled at him and waved a small bit before scrutinizing the room carefully. She needed to get an assessment of the environment he lived in so she could further assess his character along with his roommate's. Seeing that the room was messy told her that one of them was probably creative. Normally messy rooms meant creativity. That or they just liked living in what one would call a pig's-sty.

"I want to know now, though!" Odd whined, jumping onto Ulrich's bed and grabbing at an envelope in his hands.

"Odd, you've got your date and I need to talk to Lia about this stuff first, anyway," Ulrich told him, shoving him off the bed with a laugh.

"Embarrass me in front of Lirril… Hmph," Odd grumbled, walking back over to Lirril. "Don't worry, I'll be getting you back for that later."

Ulrich threw a pillow at Odd as he left.

Lirril could see that the two acted much like brothers. They joked around with each other and didn't really mean it when they were being rude. She wanted that…

-Ulrich-

As soon as Odd left the room with Lirril he opened the envelope and looked at the pictures again.

The first one had pictures of the burnt trees of the forest. The trees were only burnt on one side meaning that it hadn't gotten to the other side of the trees. It seemed like it wasn't possible…

The second one was a picture of him. It was when he'd been lying on the forest floor.

The third and final picture had him in it, but he was flopped over on his back. There were no burn marks whatsoever on his clothing. They'd only been on the backside. Just like with the trees… It didn't make sense… When a fire started it engulfed the whole area. Not just half of a tree…

"Oh, you're back?" Aivillia asked as she plopped down on Odd's bed and began playing with Kiwi. She claimed that it helped her calm down.

"Yeah…" he replied softly as he began to study the three pictures. When he looked at them he could feel the headache coming on. Studying them seemed to cause the headache to worsen. The longer he studied the worse the headache… "Do you guys have any pictures of me when I was little? Like, before the fire?"

"Yeah, Dad does somewhere in the house… When Zephyr can come back I'll have him bring them if you want…" she told him softly, with a raised eyebrow.

"Thanks. I want to compare them to ones that Mom and Dad gave me," he explained, stuffing some pictures into an envelope and then placing the envelope underneath his pillow.

-Zender-

He paced around his room. Lirril leaving campus with Odd was not a good idea. He shouldn't have even suggested it. She was still quite naïve and might end up pulled into the want of being part of a family… She already had issues with that…

He crossed the room as the screen flashed with a new video call. "Sir."

"How goes your mission?" a man, probably around the age of thirty-five, asked Zender, pushing his glasses farther up his nose. His black hair was cut short and he was wearing a plain red t-shirt and a black jacket.

"I have seen the boy. He is called Ulrich Stern here. Lirril is assessing the ways that he lives and speaking with his friends so we may get a better understanding of how he thinks now. His intellect has suffered since he was a child. When he was five he was much smarter and much better able to handle any situation. He won't see through us," Zender replied, seating himself in front of the screen.

"Good… Good… I take that you are keeping an almost constant eye on Lirril?" the man asked, leaning forward a bit so his face was closer to the screen.

"Yes, sir. Right now Aiko is following her to make sure that she does not slip up and let our cover be known."

"I'm counting on you, Zender. We've almost weeded out the traitor. I'll ask your suggestion for punishment. He may have made it harder for us to find Tristam, but we did eventually find him at least."

"The traitor isn't all that bad after all, sir… He erased his memories so that he didn't get mixed up in this again. Now when he tries to access the information his head begins to pain him. If he's not one to self-inflict pain eventually he'll stop."

"Even better. Keep trying to get closer to him. I shall contact you in two days' time."

Zender nodded as the screen went blank.

-Ulrich-

_"You can't run forever, child… You'll never be able to stay away! We'll always find you!" the older man yelled to Tristam._

_ Tristam ducked into a hole in a tree that the older man couldn't see._

_ "I knew you were five, but I did not know that you liked hide-and-seek…" the man laughed and Tristam could hear rustling. "It doesn't really matter… Zender will weed you out…"_

_ "Yes," another voice said._

_ Tristam tried to scrambled out of the tree as the side his back was facing lit on fire…_

_**A/N: Again, sorry for the late update. D: A friend of mine called and my siblings were being loud… I really hope my dad fixes the laptop soon! Dx**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	10. Questions

_**Questions**_

_** A/N: Alright, again I apologize if this isn't up to my usual standards… -o-" We have two normal computers downstairs in the same room and my siblings are playing a game on the other one and being quite loud. XD Stupid siblings… Right now I can use the laptop to type, so I'm not having as much issues. I'm hoping my dad'll look at it tonight. See, for some reason it's not catching the IP address of the newer router that we got since my dad switched all the computers to that one. We used to have two. I don't understand it and it's got him confused. We've tried re-starting it and everything. It's been going for 5:10 mins trying to get the IP address…**_

_** To the story!**_

__"Good morning, Ulrich," Aelita greeted as the two roommates headed toward the table.

"Not going to eat breakfast?" Jeremie asked from his spot on the other side of the table, looking toward Ulrich.

Ulrich shook his head and laid it down on the table. He mumbled something.

"What was that?" Odd asked, pointing his fork toward Ulrich's head.

Ulrich lifted his head and spoke again, "Sorry for missing the Xana attack. I was talking to my parents about the fire and it'd already been two hours after I'd gotten the text when I saw it so I assumed you guys were fine. If you weren't I assumed you would have called more than you did. One call and one text. And the call was from Odd telling me about Lirril." He laid his head back down.

"Are you alright?" Aelita asked, placing her hand on his shoulder and feeling him tense.

Ulrich moved his head so they could see his face and shook his head. "Ever since Lia has shown up I've been having these horrible headaches every time I try to remember what she's talking about… I keep seeing these weird vision things in my dreams about this little boy and he's being chased and there's a huge fire… The fire only burns near the boy and nowhere else in that time… I don't know… I think the little boy is me… If he is then I'm really Lia's brother like she keeps saying…" He pressed his head against the cool table.

"Maybe your mind is suppressing the memories?" Jeremie suggested, looking up from his work and toward Ulrich.

"Why though?" he asked, as Yumi walked over.

"Well, maybe the memories are too painful for you to remember them. It would explain a lot, though. If you're Tristam and Tristam was caught in a fire then that means that when you were younger you were in a fire. It would explain why you have a fear of fire," Aelita explained.

"What's going on?" Yumi asked, sitting down and looking toward Ulrich.

"Odd, go ask Lia to ask Zephyr what my headache might mean…" he whispered as he tried to calm the pain in his head.

"Who's Zephyr?" he heard Lirril ask.

Ulrich silently cursed himself as he remembered what Lia had told him… If he said their real names that could get them all in humongous trouble… "Yeah, Zephyr's my uncle… He's a doctor."

"Oh, I see. Anyway, Odd, last night was fun. I hope we can hangout again sometime," Lirril stated waving at the group and walking off to catch up with Zander and two other girls.

"Odd, go tell Lia to ask Seth about the headache…" Ulrich stated again.

-Lirril-

"He definitely knows Zephyr. He mentioned him and was talking about a headache. It seems it's been bothering him for awhile," Lirril said after she'd caught up. Looking back at the small group of friends she wished to be over there more.

"Good work, Lirril. The Creators are checking up in two days' time and I plan to have made more progress in the area of making friends with him. We need to get him to trust us so that he'll listen. We need to make sure that we have everything under control. If we can keep Zephyr then we might be able to get rid of Aivillia," Zender explained quietly as they walked.

Lirril looked back at them again before shutting the door. She silently swore to herself that whatever it took she would take down Zender. If she took down Zender and joined Aivillia and Zephyr then she'd get the chance to make a family…

(*)(*)(*)(*) After School (*)(*)(*)(*)

Lirril walked up to Odd and grabbed his arm gently. "Can I ask you something?"

Odd nodded and looked quickly over to where Lia was talking to Ulrich before following Lirril to a quieter area.

"No matter how weird this sounds to you please just answer the questions, alright?" she asked, looking him straight in the eye.

Odd was confused, but nodded anyway.

"You and your friends are kind of like an extended family, right?"

Odd nodded. "Yumi's kind of like the mother of the group. She's the most mature of us, the oldest, and sometimes the most rational. Jeremie's the genius that we all poke fun at, but he's awesome in the end. Ulrich's the sports kid and he doesn't get the best grades… I'm the jokester. I'm always pulling pranks. Aelita is like our little sister. She's the one that we all love," Odd stated with a wide grin. I'm assuming that's not how you and Zender along with your other two friends are?"

"Right… We've known each other for fifteen years…"

"Yeah, I get what you mean. Sometimes, though, friends just don't work and they drift apart…"

"I think I understand what you mean… Friends trust each other, right?"

"Yup, I'd trust each of every one of them with my life."

-Ulrich-

He'd finally convinced his friends that he'd be alright enough to walk down to Yolanda's office and ask for some aspirin. Throughout the course of the day his headache had gotten worse and worse… Now it just stayed; he didn't have to look at the pictures to trigger it.

He leaned against the wall and look the coolness of the brick stop his pounding head… It helped for a small while and then he blacked out.

_"Tristam, please sit down in your seat. As soon as you sit down we'll get you some food and I'll go walking with you," a woman that had his and Aivillia's eyes told the small boy._

_ "But it's boring just sitting here… I'd rather being helping Father with his work," Tristam told the woman._

_ "Spheilia, are you and the children ready?" someone asked from the hallway._

_ "Almost, one more minute!" she shouted and then whispered to Tristam. "You don't worry about that. You're only four."_

_ "Four and a half," he stated, as if he were correcting a major mistake his mother had made._

_ "Zephyr! That isn't fair!" a girl's voice yelled as they heard the echoing sound of feet hitting the floor as if someone were jumping._

_ "Give me my doll back! Mom!" the girl yelled, the jumping sound continuing._

_ "Zephyr, give Aivillia the doll back," the woman order, taking Aivillia's hand and bring her, Zephyr, and Tristam to the location the picture was being taken._

_ "I'm glad you all finally finished getting ready," a tall, muscular man told them in a booming voice. "As soon as I get done with my work we'll all go and play outside," the man told the three as they sat._

_ "Smile," the man taking the picture said._

_** A/N: Probably could have been better, but I finally got the laptop so I could type this and then use a flashdrive and transfer it to a working computer. D= If you guys have any ideas they'd really be appreciated. =3**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_

_**P.S. Sorry about the lateness everybody! I wanted to post this yesterday, but I forgot the flashdrive when I came downstairs and was too tired to go back and get it. X3**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	11. The Wrong Direction

_**The Wrong Direction**_

_** A/N: I know this is probably pretty random to you, but how much do you like babies? I loooooooooooooooove babies. X3 I have two little nieces (one that I'm biologically related to and one that I'm referring to as my niece b/c her mom is my best friend/sister). X3 I got to see two babies today. ^-^ I love taking care of babies. ^^ Anyway, sorry for the randomness of that…**_

_** To the story!**_

__Ulrich flashed in and out of consciousness as the headache blew through his head. It felt like something had been injected into his head and was sitting there burning. It didn't move and didn't stop. The pain was nearly too much to handle for the brunette…

_"Tristam, are you alright?" the woman, Sphielia, asked picking up the young boy._

_ "I'm fine, Mom," Tristam replied, hugging his mother and looking up to the top of the area he'd fallen from._

_ "You fell from that high and you're alright?" she asked, checking him over and giving him a small smile._

_ He nodded as he looked up to see Aivillia and Zephyr looking down on the two._

_ "He's alright, Mom! Remember, he's always been stronger than the rest of us!" Aivillia yelled down as she paced back and forth near the edge._

Ulrich couldn't will his eyes to open, but he could hear his friends… The pain had subsided a small bit…

"We shouldn't have let him walk off… I knew his headache would get worse…" Aivillia whispered in a nearly inaudible voice.

"Stop beating yourself up over it… We all said that he could go by himself. We believed he wasn't lying to us and he did. We can't change the outcome now," Odd stated.

He felt a finger move a strand of hair from his face and wrinkled his nose, trying not to laugh. The touch tickled.

"What did Yolanda say this time?" Jeremie asked from out of nowhere.

"She said that if he didn't wake up soon that we'd have to take him to the hospital and get everything checked out. This is the second time it's happened and the third, if there is a third, he was going to straight to the ER," Aelita replied, from the nowhere next to Jeremie.

"I don't know what to do… I really can't tell you guys everything, but I think I know why this is happening to him…" Lia stated softly again.

_"I'll never keep anything from you, Tristam. I promise. Cross my hearts and hope to die," Aivillia said, standing in front of her younger brother and hugging him tightly._

"Well, tell us what you can," Jeremie stated pretty quietly.

"I'm not sure exactly what I can and can't tell you, though… I'll find out," Lia explained softly.

"Let us know as soon as you can, okay?" Yumi said in a worried tone.

"I will. Don't worry…" she whispered.

Ulrich tried to curl his toes and was successful so he tried to curl his fingers. Pain shot up from his nails and he instinctually took in a sharp breath and arched his back, squeezing his eyes shut harder.

"Ulrich!" his friends yelled simultaneously.

_"What're you going to do to me…?"_

_ "I'm going to make sure that it's very hard for them to find you…"_

_ "What about my family?"_

_ "I'll make contact with them as soon as I can."_

_ "How soon is that?"_

_ "How soon is soon for anyone?"_

_ "I don't know…"_

_ "If even a genius like you doesn't know then no one knows. It's going to be complicated enough altering your memories without anyone knowing, let alone talking with your father again."_

_ "So I may never see them again…?"_

_ "There's a possibility… Your sister, Aivillia was it?, said that it was very easy to find you when you were lost. You had a sort of energy about you that lead her to you. And she has that same energy. You two could easily find each other."_

_ "Yeah… I guess you're right… Just please, if they don't contact you about helping me when I'm older find me and unlock my memories…"_

_ "When I'm seventeen. If we wait longer than that then my memories will be lost, won't they?"_

_ "Yes, you're correct in your observation. I'll try to make sure that Zender, Aiko, Amelina, and Lirril aren't sent out to find you, but I make no promises. I have no control over the boss's actions."_

_ "Yeah, I know."_

_ "You probably won't remember this, but you need to be very careful…"_

_ "With?"_

_ "If you try to remember what I'm locking away then you will cause yourself a great deal of pain… It will continue to get worse and worse… You'll have to seek a powerful computer out if you want it fixed without me…"_

_ "Yeah."_

-Zephyr-

He looked around his room and continued to pace. Everything he'd ever looked at about Earth and the people past this computer-based world was sitting there. He had no idea how the rouge creator had been able to do what he did… He wasn't even sure if that man was on their side any longer…

"Zephyr, let me know when you are leaving here. I will be accompanying you to see Tristam and try to get that boy's head screwed on straight," his father stated from the doorway.

"If his memories are locked away you might not be able to. We might need someone else to unlock them," Zephyr explained.

"There's so much that I wish we could tell his friends on Earth… There are so very few things that they can know…"

"Do you know why we can't tell them the other stuff?"

"If we do and someone overhears then we are going to have to deal with being experimented on. We will be taken apart and put back together or sold back to the Creators or much worse things. We cannot allow that to happen."

Zephyr nodded and looked at his computer. Nothing from Aivillia… The only thing sitting on the desktop was a countdown timer ticking down the time until he could try again to get Tristam back…

_**A/N: Ahh… I hope that my dad'll be home tomorrow so he can take a look at the laptop. There might not be another update till Friday. Not sure. It all depends on how tired I am. =3**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	12. Lies

_**Lies**_

_** A/N: Not a good day… Not much else to say except for a special thanks to flyboy961 for helping me out with all my stories thus far.**_

_** To the story!**_

__"You're confused, are you not?" someone asked from past his closed eyelids. Ever since that last vision everything had been deathly quiet. He assumed he'd been sleeping… "I know you probably can't answer me yet. I have answers for you. Ones that are going to seem much more plausible than what Aivillia and Zephyr are telling you. They are advanced beings that shouldn't be messed with. We shall be watching for you to recover. If you wish to hear what we have to say then meet us at the rundown house in the woods on the day that you recover."

He heard footsteps, signaling that the person was leaving. After he heard the door close he tried to curl his fingers and toes again. Meeting those feats with success he tried to open his eyes and slowly succeeded.

"Oh good, you're awake… How are you feeling?" Yolanda asked him, walking over quickly.

-Lirril-

She took Odd's hand in hers and brought him toward the forest. "There's something that I have to tell you, but you have to promise not to tell anyone and you have to hear me out…"

Odd nodded, determination showing on his face.

Lirril took a deep breath. She barely knew Odd, but she could tell easily that she could trust him. She could trust him and she could get his help. "I'm not like you… I technically wasn't born… I truthfully am not really supposed to even exist… I was created by someone… I was created for them to sell as a worker that would work for free as long as I had food to eat and a place to sleep. Same for the others. I can't tell you who the others are, but you should know that I'm an AI. I still do have normal bodily functions, though."

Odd looked as if he were thinking something over then beamed at her. "It's okay! We used to think that Aelita was an AI before she came to Earth and we found out about her dad."

"The thing is though, Odd, that right now there are five AIs here. Me, my three friends, and one of your friends. I can't tell you who or anything else because I'm almost positive that someone is coming near, but please don't hate me…" In truth all that she really wanted was to be accepted. She wanted people to like her for her. She wanted to be able to have a family and grow older, which she still did (but that wasn't the point), or to be able to live her life before she shut down for good… She wanted to experience everything…

"C'mon, I have something I want to show you. Just like you said, though, you can't tell anyone."

-Zender-

"I know exactly what I'll tell him. It will most likely buy us the time that we need to find the traitor and return the child's memories to him so that we may get to those prototypes," he stated to the computer screen.

"Good work… I knew placing you four on the job was the correct decision. Now, what of Lirril?" the man asked, leaning forward.

"She's been hanging around the humans much more frequently than necessary. I think she may revert to their side, but it's not too much of a loss. She'll lose."

"That's what I like to hear…"

"The man in charge of the dorms is coming. I'll contact you tomorrow."

"Good."

Zender shut off the computer and went to lie in the bed he was provided.

(*)(*)(*)(*) The Next Day (*)(*)(*)(*)

Ulrich walked quickly into the woods. He'd been excused from classes for the day in order to recover from the headache that was still bluntly aching. It was small and manageable, but in no means did that mean that it needed to be there.

"I see you came," a girl with light blue hair wearing Japanese style clothing said as she walked up to him. "So you're going to hear us out?"

He nodded. "I just want to know the truth. I'll listen to what you have to say, but I can't promise I'll believe you."

"That's all we ask for. My name is Aiko, by the way. The girl up in the trees is Amelina. Zender is the one that spoke to you and he's waiting at the house. We needed to make sure that there wasn't anyone following you. If Aivillia or Zephyr saw that you were speaking with us or that we knew the truth then we'd be in big trouble and they can't know that we know… That puts the five of us in danger," Aiko explained as she brought him toward the Hermitage standing in the distance.

"Yeah, that's basically what they told me. I can't tell anyone because you'd either get experimented on or something worse. I know that telling would probably put me and my friends in an awkward position, too," he stated as they entered the gates.

"Zender would like to speak with you alone, if that's alright. Amelina and I will be standing guard out here so you don't have to worry about him trying something. He really just wishes to speak with you," Aiko explained as Amelina came out of the trees and followed beside the two.

"Aiko, I'll be standing at the gate," Amelina stated, her black hair swaying with the breeze.

Aiko nodded and then turned her attention to Ulrich. "Please have an open mind about what you are going to hear. It may be shocking…"

Ulrich nodded and walked inside. He knew that Zender would most likely be in the room that looked as if it were the living room. It was big and open. He went toward the room and saw Zender standing there in the center, waiting.

"Ulrich, we've met before. Xander is an alias that I use. It's just so that certain people don't know I'm around," Zender said as he looked Ulrich over. "I can see why they chose you…"

"Chose me?" Ulrich asked, walking closer, but not close enough that Zender could grab him or something.

"Yes, Aivillia and Zephyr chose you when you were little. They caused the fire that killed your real family. They weren't really planning on having someone else find you. I hear that the story is that they left to get something to eat, not leaving someone to watch you, and someone else found you. They've spent a good span of time trying to find you. I can see you're curious as to what I mean, correct?" Zender asked, taking a seat on the ground.

Ulrich followed suit and nodded. "They told me that I'm their younger brother, Tristam."

"That's partway true, Ulrich. You must understand something first. Aivillia, Zephyr, Aiko, Amelina, and myself are all AIs. We were created to serve one purpose. To serve the people that took us. Aivillia and her parents' generation were the prototypes. Her parents are escaped prototypes. Tristam was only four, the same age you were when they started that fire, and he was goofing off here. They can't stay on Earth too long or they die. He wasn't paying attention to how long he stayed and he nearly died. There was enough time to store his memories and personality somewhere. Tristam looked much like you did as a child. I've found pictures. Do you understand now what has happened?" Zender asked, looking at Ulrich's expression.

_**A/N: I'll leave it there since my parents are bugging me about getting off. =3 I'm kind of mad right now, because they're threatening to unplug the computers. XPPP It's really stupid. I'm hoping that they don't. I just thought I'd warn you guys, though. It'll be until our house is immaculate. Which won't happen. So I don't know how long it might be. Cleaning to my mom's standards means that it's never EVER clean. EVER. Unless she's the one that does it. =P**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	13. Turning Against

_**Turning Against**_

_** A/N: So, they didn't unplug it. Hopefully they don't. =3 Oh, for all of you out there, don't get pregnant as a teenager. My best friend did and now her mom is using my friend's kid to get money from the government. =P And she's basically a prisoner in her own house. It sucks. Anyway, I'm happy to bring you the next chapter! X3**_

_** To the story!**_

__"I'm saying that Aivillia and Zephyr placed Tristam inside of you. Originally he was supposed to take over and you'd be locked inside your own mind. That is what is causing you so much pain. Tristam is trying to gain control. Once he does there will be no chance that you can come back," Zender explained, looking toward the window and seeing Aiko give him the warning signal. "This is as long as we can talk today. I'll leave you alone for awhile to ponder what I've told you. Come into the woods and call for Aiko when you wish to speak with me again and she'll get it set up. It's your four friends that are headed this way." Zender quickly left the room, leaving Ulrich sitting on the floor in thought.

_If what he's telling me is true, then I need a way to get Tristam out of my head before he does take over… If he takes over then I won't be me anymore… Yumi, Aelita, Jeremie, and Odd all need me… _Ulrich thought as his four friends entered the house.

"Are you okay, Ulrich?" Yumi asked when she got close enough for him to hear.

He nodded. "I just came here to think… It's quiet."

"There's something wrong. We can tell," Aelita stated, coming to sit next to Ulrich and giving him a small smile. "We're your friends and we'll help you through whatever it is."

Ulrich shook his head. "The only thing wrong is that I keep having these stupid headaches… There's nothing that any of us can do about it."

"Talk to Yolanda… Maybe she can help…" Odd said as Ulrich stood up.

"Just trust me, okay? There's nothing any of the five of us can do…" he stated as he walked toward the front of the house.

-Aivillia-

"I'm telling them, Zephyr! He'll be more likely to believe them if I can show them! He knows them better than he does us!" she yelled at the computer screen.

"That's jeopardizing all of us! You do realize that one of them could be a spy or something, right?" Zephyr shouted back at her, his body shaking from his anger.

"We're jeopardizing everyone either way! If they get Tristam, then we're done for!"

"And if we lead them straight to him and us then we're done for! Father and I will be there in four days and he'll handle it!"

"No he won't! Zender, Aiko, Amelina, and Lirril have already managed to figure out that Ulrich is Tristam! If they get a hold of him I can't begin to imagine the lies they'd spin!"

"So you'd let us be destroyed just to hear Tristam speak to you for mere seconds?"

Aivillia let out a frustrated sigh. "Just shut up. You don't know what you're talking about!" She shut the computer off before she got a reply. Telling Jeremie, Aelita, Yumi, and Odd about the colony of AIs on their virtual world of Lyoko needed to be done… They needed to know that people were living there… They needed to know that Tristam holding a magnificent power that could destroy all the prototype AIs on Lyoko… If the positions of her and Tristam were reversed she knew that he would do the same thing. Pulling out her phone she dialed the number that Jeremie'd given her.

-Ulrich-

He ran through the forest to a clearing that he'd found when he'd first come to Kadic. He knew that he was the only one who knew the way to it because the way to get to the clearing was difficult to get through. He lied down on the soft Earth and looked up at the moving white clouds in the sky.

He had to choose between believing Aivillia or Zender… Aivillia, the girl who claimed to be his sister… If he really was Tristam with his memories of before locked away then couldn't Aivillia get them back? No, that wouldn't be right… She'd need an ultra powerful computer to do that… Zender couldn't get them back either… He needed those memories… But if they consumed him then that wouldn't matter…

Letting his mind wander he thought about the fact that he always felt at home in the forest… His worries seemed to disappear when he sat under the leafy arms of the forest…

-Yumi-

"And that's that," Lia finished explaining on Jeremie's bed.

"So let me get this straight," Jeremie stated from the chair in front of his computer. "Your entire family is made up of AIs that are living on Lyoko in a colony of escapees from another computer where some guys were trying to make you basically become slaves?"

She nodded. "See, my parents were two of the original AIs made. They knew that the Creators were going to get rid of them so they ran with the help of one of the scientists that decided to help them. They ran out into the Net and were wandering aimlessly and found Lyoko. Franz Hopper spoke with them and he let them stay. If I remember correctly, there's about fifty of us living within the sectors. There are other AIs than us though… They're the perfected and perfectly working versions… Zender, Aiko, Amelina, and Lirril are the Creators personal workers. They carry out whatever they tell them to do. They were sent here to find my brother… Once they do that, they get his memories back and use him to destroy us prototypes…"

"So you want us to try and show this to him?" Yumi asked as Odd shook his head.

"He'll trust you quicker than he'll trust me. He knows you… I'm just a stranger to him right now…" she whispered looking at her feet.

"You're wrong…" Odd whispered.

"What are you talking about, Odd?" Aelita asked gently, seeing that he looked angry.

"Lirril wouldn't do something like that. You don't know her," he stated.

"You're the one that doesn't know her. I've known her since I was five and I know the horrible things those four have done. Did you know that they tried to kill Ulrich? Did you know that they're the ones that forced him to move here by destroying his other mother's childhood home? Did you know she's partially the reason he's scared to death of fire?" she asked, standing up and walking toward the door. "You don't know that girl at all."

"We'll talk to him when he gets back," Yumi said as Lia opened the door to leave.

"Thank you…" she whispered as she walked out, leaving Odd dumbstruck.

_**A/N: I do not think that Odd's reactions are out of character. XD He's quite the ladies' man and so he'd want to protect her. XD Don't worry, more will be here tomorrow hopefully!**_

_** Read and review, please! ^^**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	14. Knowledge

_**Knowledge**_

_** A/N: I really hope that I can everything typed out tonight. =3 I want to put out another chapter in a row for once. D= I hope my daddy fixes our laptop soon… =(**_

_** To the story!**_

Aivillia stormed down the hallway and nearly kicked the wall, but stopped herself. Odd Della Robbia could definitely be infuriating. He was probably going to end up going to Zender's side. She knew that that was likely his fate, since he was so infatuated with Lirril.

"Aivillia," she heard someone whisper her name.

Looking around she saw Zender standing in his doorway. "What do you want?"

"I want you to help me. I know you want Tristam back and I have him convinced that you and Zephyr are the bad ones… He's almost completely convinced that you two put Tristam inside him so he could take over Ulrich's body and push Ulrich into submission. I don't think you want to continue on this route…" Zender said, motioning for her to come into his room.

"I am _**not**_ coming into your room. Last time I did that you tried to rape me. Lucky for me Zephyr came by. I will not let that happen again," she stated, glaring at the taller man.

He walked over toward her and placed his hands on the wall, trapping her between them. "You were younger then."

"I'm seventeen now. I won't let you make decisions for me, 'kay? I don't like you. You're mean and nasty. You want to destroy my family…" she whispered, looking away from Zender and to the ground.

"I have the power with the Creators to keep your family safe…"

"No you don't. My family is the entire group of 'prototypes'. They're all my family. I know that you don't observe family bonds and that's why you'll never understand why I'm not going to allow you to hurt or use Tristam. No matter what it takes I'll get my baby brother back…"

"I'd like to see you try to beat me…"

-Ulrich-

His eyes blinked open and he was met with the starlit night sky. _Must have fallen asleep here…_

"Tristam…" he heard someone whisper.

Jerking his head around to the sound of the voice he saw a tall, thin, black haired man hiding within the forest. "Who are you and what do you want?"

The man stepped forward carefully, treating Ulrich as if he were a wild lion hunting for prey. "I'm here to help you… Let me tell you dear boy, you are not an easy person to track down…" the man sighed and shook his head. "I swear your father knew exactly where you were, but didn't want to draw attention to it…"

"Who are you? And how do you know all that stuff?" Ulrich asked, standing up and getting into a position he could easily defend himself in.

"Oh, I apologize. I didn't introduce myself again, did I? My name is Damien. You and I have spoken once before. You are really Tristam, are you not? That's why you answered to that name?" Damien asked him, stepping closer and studying Ulrich.

"I don't know… Zender said-" Ulrich began, before being cut-off.

"Zender is a lying scumbag. All he cares about is whether or not he's sucking up to the others enough."

"The others?"

"Yes, the others! Must I spell everything out for you, child? I am one of the Creators. I'm one of the ones that created your real parents. Might I say that we didn't factor in reproduction, but it seems to work fine… No birth defects in you, Aivillia, or Zephyr… It's quite intriguing… Now, do you wish to have your memories back? I figure you're old enough and have the experience to be able to fight the Creators now…"

"Why are you helping me if you want me like Zender does?"

Damien shook his head. "No, no, no child… You have it all wrong. I am helping the prototypes, as you and your colony of runaways is called, to get away from the others. I created them and I do not wish to see you all used for their purposes."

"How do I know that you're telling me the truth…?"

"I know you've seen the memory… We spoke almost just like this before, Tristam. You asked me to tell your family where you were, but I could never get a hold of them… Zender, Aiko, Amelina, and Lirril were the ones that caused your mother's death… I assume that due to your young age you were able to stay here indefinitely. You could stay here or go to the colony as you pleased now… Aivillia's time here is almost up and if she does not return then she will die… I know she won't leave here without you, Tristam…"

"Find a way to prove it to me and I'll come with you."

Damien walked back toward the trees and picked something up. On his way back over Ulrich noticed he was carrying a messenger bag. He pulled a video camera from it and opened it. "Here, take a look. That's you and me speaking when you were four."

Ulrich watched as the memory that had rushed into his mind when he'd passed out the second time played in front of his eyes. _He remembered this… He remembered speaking with Damien… He'd saved him after the fire… He'd helped him get a bit better before-_ his train of thought was interrupted as his head began to pain him again.

"I see you remember… Do you know where we can find a powerful computer?" Damien asked as he shut off the camera and placed it inside the bag again.

He nodded. "I want to talk to Lia first, though."

"Of course. I'll accompany you, if you wish."

Ulrich nodded and headed back out toward Kadic. If Aivillia recognized this guy then Ulrich would know he's telling the truth…

-Odd-

He looked out the window of his and Ulrich's room and wondered where the brunette could be… He showed Lirril the Factory. He told her, no begged her, not to tell anyone. He felt he could trust her… Could he trust Aivillia? He didn't know…

"Odd…" he heard someone whisper from behind the door.

He hopped out of bed and swung the door open to see Lirril. "Is something wrong?"

She took a deep breath. "Zender knows I've been sneaking around to see you… I just wanted to say good-bye in case he tries to kill me and I can't get away…

Odd hugged her. "I won't let that happen…"

_**A/N: I'll leave it there since it's almost mid-night. =3 3 more days of school left…**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	15. Running Out of Time

_**Running Out of Time**_

_** A/N: Not much to say here… =3 Hoping that my dad fixes the laptop soon. D= **__**MINOR CHANGE MADE!: Remember how I said this was basically season two set? Well, it's season 3 now. =3 The very beginning of season 3, so no sectors are gone yet. =3**_

_** Read and review! (that means you people that aren't reviewing!)**_

__Ulrich led the way to his and Odd's dorm room. Looking around he noticed that nearly all the lights were out and that the entire school was silent. "What time is it?"

"A quarter past midnight, Tristam," Damien replied, looking up at the stars rather than a watch.

Ulrich nodded and made his way to his dorm.

-Aelita-

"Jeremie, we need to figure out a way to help Ulrich…" she whispered as they worked.

Jeremie spun around in his chair and nodded. "I'm not sure how much we can do… Right now the only information that we have is that Ulrich's mind is potentially suppressing memories from the night that the fire happen when he was younger and that they're so severe that they're causing him to black out."

"What could be so horrible that that would happen, though…?" she asked, looking up over her laptop screen to look at Jeremie.

"We need to ask Ulrich if he's remembered anything else or something that could potentially help us…"

Aelita set her laptop down beside her and slipped back on her shoes that she'd kicked off. "I'll go and talk to him."

-Ulrich-

He walked into his room and saw Aivillia splayed out on Odd's bed reading a magazine. "Someone's late getting back," she stated, not looking to see who was at the door.

"I see you've become more and more distracted, Lia," Damien commented as he took a seat on Ulrich's bed and Ulrich stood by the door.

Aivillia shot up, placing the magazine next to her. She shot across the room and hugged Damien. "Dad thought that you got captured! Are you alright? They haven't found you out yet, have they? Did you know that Zender and his crew were sent here? Oh my gosh, I'm so happy to see you're alright!"

"Proof enough for you, Tristam?" Damien asked as he gently removed Aivillia's arms from around his neck.

"Tristam? I thought you were going by Ulrich… Did you get your memories back?" she asked excitedly, standing up quickly.

"No, he's just used to calling me that… All I want is to know the truth… I want to know whether I'm Tristam or whether I'm just holding him inside me until he comes out and takes me over…" he stated, sitting across from the two on Odd's bed.

"Oh, to answer your earlier questions… Yes, no, and yes. I couldn't stop the others from sending Zender, Aiko, Amelina, and Lirril out to find him… I was out-voted and the others are already suspicious of me… Listen, Aivillia, do you know where a good and powerful computer is? I need to unlock his memories and that's the only way… And it is the truth, child…" Damien said, looking between the two.

"Here, let me get Zephyr and Dad…" she whispered as she pulled out a laptop from underneath the blankets she'd been sleeping on as a knock came at the door.

"Ulrich, are you still up? We need to talk…" he heard Aelita whispered behind the door.

-Aelita-

She heard whispering from behind the door and seconds later Ulrich came and answered it with a short smile. "Sorry, I was doing homework. Have you seen Odd?"

"He was in here earlier…" she whispered as she let herself into the dorm. "Listen, Jeremie and I want to help… I was thinking that we could run some scans on you from the-"

Ulrich coughed loudly to interrupt her. "Yeah, that might help… It's only when I think about before the fire, so hopefully it will…"

"Yeah…" she said, glancing around the room. Something was off about Ulrich and she was determined to figure out what… "So tomorrow after classes?"

Ulrich nodded and glanced around to the corner underneath his desk. "Hopefully we don't have a lot of homework…"

She nodded and decided her plan of action. She'd eavesdrop outside the door. Jim was asleep already, had been for awhile, and as long as she was quiet she'd be alright… "Try to get some sleep, okay? I know it's been pretty stressful for you lately…"

"Yeah, thanks for the help Aelita…" he told her as she walked toward the door.

"No problem… Good-night," she stated as she walked out the door and shut it. She pretended to walk down the hallway then silently back-tracked.

"-like I said, I'll need a powerful computer to restore your memories… I don't want to be the cause of a fight between you and your friends, either…" a male voice said from within the room.

"Yeah, I know that neither of you want that… I just want to be sure that I'm not going to be getting myself into trouble…" Ulrich whispered sadly.

"I get that, I really do, but we really need you…" she heard a girl's voice whisper back. "Oh, hey Zephyr. Glad you're awake."

-Ulrich-

He walked across the room to sit in between Lia and Damien.

"Hey! I see you've got Ulrich there… What's up? I was just about asleep, y'know. Since it's nighttime…" Zephyr stated, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"You know I'm a night owl, Zeph. Anyway, I've got Ulrich and, you're never going to believe it, Damien here!" Aivillia whisper-squealed.

Zephyr's eyes got wide and he motioned in Ulrich's general direction.

Aivillia moved the computer so that Damien was in full view.

"Hello Zephyr, nice to see you again," Damien stated, sitting back against the wall.

"Nice to see you alive, so why're you calling me this late?" Zephyr asked again.

"I thought you might want to know that Damien is alright and to help me convince Ulrich that he really is Tristam. Zender ended up getting to him and telling him that he's really Ulrich and that Tristam is locked in his head. Zender tried to seduce me _again_ earlier, but I walked off," she stated as she moved the laptop back so he could see her and Ulrich.

Zephyr sighed. "I wish you would have let me talk to Dad for you earlier this week… I can come in four days and Dad has demanded that I bring him with me. He seems to think that if he can talk to Tristam face to face that might knock his memories back."

"Oh no, it won't. It will cause him a great deal of pain to see the man's face again… Zephyr, I need you to find me a powerful computer. I can bring his memories back that way since I am the one that locked them away…" Damien whispered.

"Why'd you do that?" Zephyr shouted as an older man walked in.

"Way to go Zeph…" Aivillia muttered as the man walked toward Zephyr's computer.

"Aivillia, cover his eyes!" Damien screeched, reaching over toward the computer to close the screen.

It was too late… Ulrich had seen the old man… That was his father…

_**A/N: Alright, so I won't be updating tomorrow. Just a head's up. =3 I plan on spending the night playing a game. XD**_

_** Read and review! (that means you, all you non-reviewers that are reading this… I haz cake!)**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	16. Pain

_**Pain**_

_** A/N: I was going to update yesterday, but then a huge storm blew through. The town near mine is really messy. There are trees and junk strewn around the city. Anyway, that's it. XD**_

_** To the story!**_

__Ulrich bit his lip until blood dripped into his mouth. The pain that split through his head was worse than ever. White light danced in front of his eyes as the pain increased. He could feel Aivillia and Damien's movement around him, but couldn't see them or hear them speak. All he knew at that moment was the pain racing through his head.

Memories jumbled together and Ulrich couldn't make sense of anything… His childhood before the fire and after the fire melded together in a pile of incomprehensible memories… He may be both, but right now he felt like neither Tristam nor Ulrich…

-Aivillia-

"Damien, what do we do?" she asked quickly as Ulrich's lip became red with blood. His hands were holding his head and he was folded over on himself.

"We need to find a fairly strong computer that I can use to reconstruct his memories. At this very moment it's basically like a dam being broken in his mind. All the water from the dam flows out and makes a mess everywhere, correct? Normally the mess will correct itself and there's no problem, but this isn't the case here," Damien explained as he stood up from the bed and picked up Ulrich.

Aivillia bit her lip and looked at Zephyr. "Zeph, you have to find a way to get here. I don't care how just do it. I have to talk to Jeremie."

Zephyr nodded and looked at their father's pained expression.

"Aivillia, take care…" her dad whispered.

She nodded. "Don't worry… Just make sure that all communication ways are open so that I can reach you in any way that I can get to when I need to."

"I will," he replied as she shut the computer and hid it again.

"Let's move. There's somewhere we need to get to right now," Aivillia told Damien determinedly as she opened the door to hurry to the blonde genius's room.

"Let's just hope that whatever plan you have up your sleeve works…" Damien whispered as he followed her down the hall a short ways and into a different dormitory room.

"Jeremie, we need to use your supercomputer. I use it anyway, but I thought it nice to let you know that we're going to be using it," Aivillia explained as soon as she opened the door.

"How do you know about it?" he asked as him and Aelita shared nervous glances.

"No time to explain. Listen, I just need for you and Aelita to stay out of the Factory for…" she started trying to think about how long it would take for Damien to do what he needed to.

"It should only take me roughly eight hours to reconstruct his memories. I can't put up that barrier again, so it's time for Tristam to come whether Ulrich likes it or not," Damien stated as he shifted Ulrich's weight in his arms.

"What happened to him?" Jeremie and Aelita exclaimed as Ulrich's fist closed tighter.

Aivillia gave an aggravated sigh and said, "Again, there's no time to explain. Meet Damien and me at the Factory and I'll explain there."

Damien nodded to the two before following Aivillia through the school and out toward the forest.

-Lirril-

"Odd, please don't… Zender isn't nice like your friends, alright? He's not going to put up with you talking to them and he won't put up with insubordination or anything… He'd kill you if you don't do what he says…" she whispered, pulling at Odd's arm to keep him from her door.

"He'll hurt you either way! I don't care if what you're saying is true, about you being a computer program and all! I don't care if you're a computer program!" he whisper-yelled so that he didn't wake up Jim.

"I am an Artificial Intelligence unit created to gather information and participate in reconnaissance missions. I was set here to neutralize the prototype unit Tristam. The one that you call 'Ulrich'. None of that creeps you out?" she asked in a nearly inaudible whisper. She'd never felt the feeling sitting in the pit of her stomach before…

"No, it doesn't… You may have been created for that or given that reason to come here, but you're not doing it… You're choosing what you want to do. Whether you're an AI or not, you're more like a human being. Aelita was that way, too. Remember? Well, she acted like a curious AI here because we didn't know about her father, but you get the idea," he explained, looking back at her.

"Odd, don't you dare join Zender… Can we talk to Jeremie? Maybe he'll allow me to assist you guys… If I can stay around you guys he wouldn't dare touch me for fear of showing themselves as AIs…" she whispered, pulling his arm so he was closer.

"Fine, but if they do anything to you I'm going straight to Zender," he stated, coming closer to her and helping her up.

-Aelita-

As soon as Aivillia and Damien were out of the room and down the hall the two geniuses began packing up everything that they'd had out.

"What do you think happened to him?" Aelita asked as she set her laptop on the floor near the end of Jeremie's bed.

"I don't know, but I bet it has something to do with those headaches…" Jeremie stated as he placed his laptop in his bag and put his bag somewhere safe.

(*)(*)(*)(*) At the Factory (*)(*)(*)(*)

-Aivillia-

She felt it coming on, but didn't say anything… She couldn't worry Zephyr and her father more by telling them that she swore she wasn't leaving till she got to take Tristam with her. She couldn't tell them that her breath was getting a tinier bit shorter. She couldn't tell them it was getting harder to walk without having to catch her breath… The sickness was coming and if Tristam couldn't go with her she refused to go back. Some would call it stubborn, but she called it wanting to make sure he got back…

"Aivillia, are you alright?" Damien asked her as he typed on the computer.

She nodded. "Perfectly fine, Damien…" It was a lie, but it wouldn't get too bad till tomorrow… Hopefully she had that time…

_**A/N: The only reason for the small part where Jeremie and Aelita were seen talking was I haven't had them in here in awhile and I wanted to be sure you understood they were heading out. XD**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	17. Time Is of the Essence

_**Time Is of the Essence**_

_** A/N: Everyone, thank you so much for your reviews! ^-^ I really don't care if your review is a simple 'Great chapter! Update soon!' or if it's lengthy or in the middle. X3 It's just nice to know that you're reading. =3 (*coughcoughTabbiCCcoughcough*) XD Can you believe it's Friday right now? XD I can't believe that it's taken me this long to get this chapter out… -_-" Friday-kept getting distracted. Saturday-Got the laptop back and needed to catch-up on stories and everything. XD So now it's Sunday. Lolz.**_

_** To the story!**_

__Aivillia gripped the arm of the chair tightly as she fought to keep herself standing upright. This whole thing wasn't going to work out in her favor at all… She could feel her strength ebbing away with each minute that passed by her. She knew that it took twenty-four hours for the sickness to fully destroy her, but she didn't know as soon as it started so she could calculate what time it was that she would die...

"Four more hours, Aivillia… Just four more is all you have to endure then you can go home…" Damien whispered to her. He knew about the sickness. She'd told him it was coming on, but they kept it from Zephyr and her father. If they knew they'd be there in a heartbeat to try and get her back home… If that happened she couldn't come back… She wouldn't be able to until a certain span of time had passed… The span of time had turned out to be quite random…

"I know… You'll have to explain to Jeremie, though…" she whispered as she watched the movement on the screen.

"I understand that, Aivillia," he stated as he typed away.

-Zender-

"Aiko and Amelina are tailing Lirril and that boy Odd. They're headed toward a supercomputer that is being used to reconstruct Tristam's memories. They're with two other people who they seem close with. I'll go myself when the process is nearly complete," Zender told the Creators as he looked toward the door to his dorm.

"Good work. I expect you to bring the boy to me tomorrow, then," one of the men stated.

Zender nodded and began listening to his phone.

"They're headed into an old abandoned Factory on the outskirts of town. I'm pretty sure that this is their destination," Aiko told him, her voice cutting out a few times as she moved.

"Make sure that you watch for the way in," he ordered as he shut off his computer and headed out.

-Aivillia-

"Get out of here…" Aivillia said as forcefully as she could muster when Lirril entered the room with the supercomputer. "I won't allow you to take my baby brother…"

"Aivillia, I understand why you're saying that, but I'm here to help…" Lirril whispered as she hid behind Odd, Jeremie, and Aelita.

"Yeah right. You, Zender, Aiko, and Amelina have been after my brother ever since before the fire _you_ started. That fire is the reason my mother was _murdered. _My little brother is never really going to get his mother because she's gone. It's all because your little gang of friends and the Creators couldn't leave us alone!" Aivillia yelled, shoving the words out of her mouth so that she was heard. "But you wouldn't know what that's like because you're programmed not to be able to love, aren't you?"

"Aivillia, hold your tongue. Lirril is special. She isn't like the others. Lirril was created to try and re-create the issue titled 'the prototype problem'. The others still have figured out why you all observe family ties or can be as close to others as you are. Two things that they thought were the issues were love and compassion. Lirril has every emotion that a normal human would. Zender, Aiko, and Amelina were created without those," Damien explained as he continued working.

"Keep an eye on her for me…" Aivillia whispered as she leaned against the tree, looking up at the ceiling with a frown.

"I will…" Damien sighed as he looked back and motioned for the four to step closer.

"So, exactly what is going on?" Jeremie asked as he stood near Lia and Aelita, Lirril, and Odd followed suit.

"Long story short, Lia—as you called her—and Ulrich are both AIs created by AIs that were created by a group of hackers, that I'm a part of. I helped Lia and Ulrich's parents escape to the Network. While floating around they stumbled upon the virtual world inside of this computer. I'm not exactly sure as to how they live, but-" Damien told them as he worked diligently.

"We live in safety bubbles that generate a space for us all to live in the digital sea of each sector. My family lives in the Forest Sector. My father rules over the people in the Forest Sector and there are others in charge of the other sectors. They all have meetings in the block-y sector. I've never been there myself, but that's how Father describes it," she stated as quickly as she could before coughing. "And don't worry, what I've got isn't contagious."

"He may be more aware of what's going on and what I'm trying to do. He seems to be helping me and that's making this go twice as fast. I should be done in two hours instead of four," Damien stated excitedly as the elevator began to move.

"Can you stop what you're doing?" Aelita asked as she looked at the security cameras.

"If I stop now then I'll have to start all over," he stated simply.

"Well, we're about to get a visitor… And he looks pretty serious…" she whispered.

Looking around Aivillia could tell that they weren't ready for a fight… Odd was talking to Lirril. It looked like he was explaining something. He hadn't heard about their visitor… No offense meant to Aelita, but she didn't look like the fighting type. Neither did Jeremie, for that matter. It also seemed like he was trying to figure something out. That left her and Damien and neither of them was in any condition to fight… This was going to be hard…

_**A/N: I'm sooooooooooooooo sorry for taking so long. D: I've had an acute issue with writer's block. "XD I thought I got over it, but apparently not. XD It's Monday night now. XD Hopefully I'll update tomorrow. ^^**_

_** Read and review, please!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	18. Fifteen Minutes

_**Fifteen Minutes**_

_** A/N: So I didn't get to update yesterday since my sister bought the new expansion pack for Sims 3 and we were messing around with it. XD Y'know, when you're not in school you really don't pay attention to the day of the week… XD I thought it was Tuesday, but it's Wednesday… XD**_

_** To the story!**_

__"Get in contact with Father and Zephyr…" Aivillia whispered as the elevator arrived to reveal Aiko, Amelina, and Zender.

"I'm working on it, but it'll take some time because I have to do two things at once," Damien answered as Zender cleared his throat.

"Go away, Zender. You're out numbered," Lirril stated as she got into a defensive position and glared at him.

"I don't think so. Clearly there are only two of you that are actually able to stand-up to us in a fight and I really don't think that two trumps three, last I checked," Zender stated as he moved closer to Aivillia.

"Back off, Zender," Lirril stated venomously as she moved in front of Aivillia and the supercomputer. "You're not going to get past Odd and me."

"I think I will, Lirril. You see, there are three of us against the two of you. I have nothing to lose. If I lose then I just lose my life. That doesn't matter to me. The only thing that matters to me is making sure that what I was told to do is carried out no matter what," Zender replied, looking toward Damien for the first time.

"We knew that we could kill two birds with one stone this way. We'll get Tristam and we now know who the traitor is," Aiko stated as she brought out a slender knife.

"You won't be getting rid of anyone today. I know exactly how to shut each of you down. I know exactly what to say to get you to back off, so I wouldn't underestimate how much the three of us have over you. You three all know that I can do this with one hand," Damien replied in a pleasant tone. "And if you try anything to harm Aivillia you will be punished."

"Punished by who? Our objective is to get a hold of Tristam by any means necessary, so if I hurt her then you can't tell the others to do a thing about it. Plus you were the one that betrayed them. They're not going to listen to you any longer and you and I both know that very well," Zender sneered.

"You wanna try us?" Odd asked from beside Lirril.

Aivillia grabbed Jeremie's pants leg. She didn't trust herself to be able to stand up… "Jeremie, call Yumi… She's a good fighter… right?"

Jeremie nodded and brought out his cell phone.

-Ulrich-

The headache was ebbing away and he was able to see again… He was inside a scanner. It was strange feeling and seeing different memories going by and being put together and into their place. Helping was a piece of cake, but he also knew the situation upstairs… Zender, Aiko, and Amelina were there. He had a score to settle with those three… He also had a score to settle with his father. His father had known that the children could go on Earth without getting the sickness. Once you reached age seven, that's when the sickness would settle in… His father had known and still made sure Aivillia and Zephyr were there when they turned seven… He had much to speak to others about and little time to do it…

Now that things were beginning to get clearer he was able to use the connection between him and the supercomputer to see what was happening upstairs and communicate with Damien. He'd been told already that he was allowed out of the scanner until the process was complete. If Zender, Aiko, or Amelina got a hold of him before the process was complete then he was screwed. He would have to be fixed again. There would only be a few times that this could be done to him…

Most of the memories they were going through now were easy to place for him. They were of his childhood with the Sterns… Damien didn't know anything about them so it was mostly him doing the work while Damien asked questions. He moved quickly and Damien told him that at this rate they may be done in half an hour…

Half an hour wasn't good enough. He knew that a one-handed Damien, Odd, and Lirril wouldn't be enough to keep Zender, Aiko, and Amelina at bay. He knew first-hand what the three could do… Zender could create fire out of thin air… Aiko was much like a ninja. She had deadly accuracy and move swiftly… Amelina was the smallest, in height and age, but wasn't one to be taken lightly. She could control the air around her… It was going to be a fight that Odd and Lirril wouldn't live through if they had to do it without him… Even if Yumi joined he'd only give them fifteen minutes. At the age of four his brain moved much like theirs did now. His reflexes were like theirs. At the age of four against those three he was taken down in five minutes. If you go with that and take it by three since there were three fighting then that would be fifteen… Fifteen minutes and they may be toast…

-Zephyr-

"Father, we need to get there as soon as possible," Zephyr stated as he began moving things around in his room.

"You know that we'd have to go through the ones in the middle sector and we don't have time to travel there and get back to there so as to save Aivillia and Tristam," the older man stated as he paced slowly across the room.

"Then we'll travel there illegal. I don't care if they try to get us in trouble. We'll have Tristam and that's what they want. They want us to have Tristam back. If we get him back then they can't sentence us to any kind of punishment," Zephyr stated as he laid a silver circle on the newly opened area of his room.

"I don't understand how you can stand your room so untidy, son," the man stated as the two moved to the area within the circle.

"I find it helps me to be creative," Zephyr stated as a white light surrounded the two.

_**A/N: Alright, so I really need to take a walk around town at night… -_-" I had such issues getting this done it's ridiculous… I should've been able to type this up in one night and not had issues, but no. My stupid brain had to be a jerk. -3-**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	19. Fleeing

_**Fleeing**_

_** A/N: Didn't get to go on that walk last night since I couldn't find my shoes… -_-" I know where they are now, though. =3 Maybe I can do it tonight… No idea, though. I feel like we're hitting that area in this story that's just about the halfway point. XD Working out some kinks in the story, but it should do pretty well. XD**_

_** To the story!**_

__Ulrich was growing impatient… He knew that he was needed and it didn't help that he could see them losing… He was forced to watch as Lirril and Odd were thrown around the computer lab. Now that more of his memories were there he was able to calculate faster and therefore was going much quicker. He hoped that they could buy him some time…

-Aivillia-

She watched as Odd and Lirril danced around the computer lab, dodging every move the hunter AIs made. She knew it wouldn't last long… She knew that they had certain abilities that set them apart from humans… She, Tristam, Zephyr, and all the other prototypes had one or more, too… She didn't want to waste her strength, but if she had to she'd use hers to help Odd and Lirril. More Odd than Lirril, but nobody needed to know that.

"Why don't you whacko's just back off and leave Ulrich alone?" Odd asked as he found a metal pipe on the floor and used it as a weapon.

"Your brain wouldn't understand the complexity of the matter, child," Zender stated as he charged at the blonde.

Aivillia knew that Zender wouldn't dare use his ability here. He needed the supercomputer just as much as they did. If he used it then he ran the chance of burning down the entire computer. That would be bad for both sides.

"Hey! Not cool, you started the party without us!" Zephyr exclaimed as the elevator opened to reveal Zephyr and their father, Andraus, standing next to each other with a few random weapons. (A/N: I own the name Andraus as far as I know. XD)

"Damnit!" Aiko yelled as Zephyr raced at her from behind as her and Amelina ganged up on Lirril.

"You know, you're not half bad, Lirril," Zephyr stated as he fought the two off.

"Damien, how much longer…?" Aivillia whispered from beside him.

"Somewhere within six to seven more minutes," Damien replied as he looked to see the fighting. "He's worried about you, you know…"

"I guessed as much… Father and Zephyr are… probably worried, too…" she whispered, watching Zephyr fighting again. "I wish I could…help…"

"You and I are about in the same boat," Damien stated, looking down at her with a sad frown. "I can't leave this chair or your brother may die and you can't leave that spot or you could die. We both want to fight, though…"

"Our freedom is…on the line here…"

"And we can't even fight to defend it…"

She nodded, rested her chin on her hands, and watched. Zephyr and Lirril were fighting off Aiko and Aivillia and Odd was fighting Zender. Andraus was standing worriedly in the elevator, watching the fighting with worry on his face. It was easily understood why he didn't come to Earth often… He hated the fighting…

When she heard a screech, her head turned as quickly as it could to face the cause. Zender had gotten away from Odd and had made his way to Lirril, only to twist her arm back enough to cause her pain.

"You understand why emotions are a weakness now, dear Aivillia? Everyone has stopped fighting because I've hurt Lirril. The fighting stopped because you all care about her…" Zender mocked as he watched all their faces turn to horror.

"Screw off, Zender," Lirril spat, trying to hurt the older man in some way.

"Why do you want my little brother and my sister?" Zephyr suddenly shouted, stepping toward Zender. "Why is it only my family that you're interested in?"

Zender laughed. "It's not your fault that your family is so interesting. Your younger brother holds the key to helping or hurting your entire civilization and your sister would be a great asset to our side."

"You're already too late, child," Andraus stated, walking toward Zephyr and placing his hand calmly on his son's shoulder. "You've been so focused on shoving your ideals down our throats that you haven't made a move for the computer; therefore, you've just enabled us to finish restoring Tristam's memories to their rightful place."

Zender looked over at the screen and saw it read 100% on it. "You'll see us again, old man," he stated as him, Aiko, and Amelina ran out of the Factory.

"Well, at least they've given up," Jeremie stated with a sigh of relief.

"It's only…for now…" Aivillia whispered as she pushed herself off the floor and into a sitting position. "They'll come…back…"

"They have to. The Creators want us back," Zephyr stated as Odd, Jeremie, and Aelita made their way down to the scanners.

-Ulrich-

He remembered everything now and as he realized everything from his childhood, he realized that Zender had done him a favor… Nights spent crying in his mother's arms as worry gripped him. He was apparently the only one that could help save their civilization… Without him they'd end up dead… He was a special AI for some reason… He didn't even know how everything worked… He had just been a kid and yet their fates rested on his shoulders…

He could feel the sting of the fire burning his back as Zender tried to burn him… He felt the fear coursing through him as he talked to the man that he realized was one of the Creators when he'd been running… He felt the pain of the night he'd last heard his mother's voice…

He'd never hear his mother say his name ever again… He'd never feel her arms around him, holding him close and making him feel safe… He'd never get to know his mother better because the people in Carthage took her away from his family…

"Ulrich, how are you-?" he heard Odd begin as he stood up and tore towards the elevator, making it close in enough time to get out and up to the surface. He needed some time to think by himself… He needed time to mourn… He needed time to prepare himself to face his father…

_**A/N: Hopefully my writer's block doesn't rear its head again. XD Interesting turn of events, huh? XD Thanks for the reviews!**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	20. Heart to Heart

_**Heart to Heart**_

_**A/N: So now we get to have a touching chapter. XD Just a little break between the heavy stuff. XD Right now Andraus and Aivillia are my two favorite OCs. XD And I liked that part, too lyokodreamer. XD**_

_**To the story!**_

Due to his ability to run faster and jump higher than most Ulrich was able to get well enough away from the school. He didn't want to talk to anyone right now… He needed time by himself to straighten everything out in his head. His father could be ruining the colonies; everyone was dependent upon him to make sure that the colonies would be alright… They were waiting for him to come back home so that he could save them or protect them… He didn't know the full details then and he sure didn't know them now…

Even when his memories of himself were locked away some pieces of his old self had remained. His want to be a hero… His want to feel safe… His love of the forest… Half the things about him were pulled from his childhood memories…

(*)(*)(*)(*) At the Factory (*)(*)(*)(*)

-Aelita-

"I can give you an hour, but that's all… After an hour you need to be back here and go home. Whether Tristam comes or not is his choice," Damien told Aivillia as he helped her into the scanner.

"Does anyone know why he ran off like that?" Jeremie asked from his place beside Aelita and Odd.

"He ran off like that because everything on his mind right now," Zephyr stated from Andraus's side.

"Zender, Aiko, and Amelina want him because the Creators want complete control over the colonies. No one is sure why, but Tristam has the power to make the colonies flourish or complete destroy them. He was born with them and his mother, Spheilia, knew this when she was pregnant with him and she also knew that he would be the last child she gave birth to. The Creators want that power so that they can take back and gather the people of the colonies," Lirril explained as Damien went back upstairs.

"Originally the AIs were created to basically be slaves. They wouldn't ask for anything except for a room to stay and food. They'd clean, watch your kids, and whatever else you could think of. Damien began to feel bad about it so he set us free. He gave us a means of escape. After searching the Net we came upon Lyoko and we met its creator. He helped us set up the colonies. We learned to cloak ourselves from Xana once he took the old man hostage. I fear the other men in charge of the colonies have been corrupted by Xana, though," Andraus explained to everyone as Damien worked.

"So then you knew my father…" she whispered as she looked over at Jeremie. He still looked as if he were in shock from the information about the colonies of AIs on Lyoko.

"Listen, we can have a 'gather new information' party later," Aivillia stated as she stepped out of the scanner. "I'm going to find Tristam and bring him back here."

"How are you going to do that?" Odd asked, leaning against the wall and yawning.

"Damien!" she yelled, directing her voice toward the entry way to the upper level. "This'll last me a full hour, right?"

"You've got it right. You'll have to go back as soon as you get back here afterwards, though," Damien replied as he climbed down the ladder. "We'll be waiting here."

She nodded and took off toward the elevator as quickly as she could.

(*)(*)(*)(*) In a Forest –Ten minutes later (*)(*)(*)(*)

-Aivillia-

"Trist, didn't I always tell you? I'd always find you whenever you ran off. No matter how far you go I'm always going to find you," she stated as she came up on the tree she saw him sitting in. She sat at the base and looked up at the twinkling stars.

"I want time alone…" he whispered as he jumped down from the tree limb he had been sitting on.

"Sitting around and moping isn't going to help anyone. Whether you're upset or not you need to talk to someone… I understand that this is probably a lot to handle, but you have your family here to help you… Damien and your other friends are here to help you, too… You're not alone… I don't like seeing you upset…"

He punched the tree. His fist bit into the bark, but he didn't seem to care. "I don't have everyone… If I told my adoptive parents they'd freak and send me to a mental hospital. Not to mention that because of those whackos in charge of the colonies, excluding Dad of course, I won't ever see my own mother's face again… I won't get to see her because they wanted me and punished her… How can I go back there knowing that? How can I go back knowing that my mother is dead because I had to hide in that damned tree."

"You were four, Tristam… You weren't going to be the smartest person on the planet and no one can see into the future, though I have had my suspicions about Dad being able to… No one at home will judge you… They know how stupid the Council can be… The only reason Dad's on the council is to hopefully lessen punishments that the other members dish out. It helps to balance it out a bit. Nobody there will judge you because you disappeared. They all know how much we loved our mom and they all were very kind to me and Zephyr when it first happened… They know you… They know you wouldn't do it on purpose…"

"There's so much that needs done… I've got to actively fight Xana, keep going to school, help the colonies, protect myself, talk to Dad, and a bunch of other stuff I don't know yet. If I go back, what if I'm not what they all expect?"

She sighed and looked up through the leaves of the trees. "You'll be fine.. They won't expect all of that from you… Mainly it's just protecting yourself… You know, Zephyr and I miss Mom too…"

"You knew her better than I did…"

"If you keep being sad you won't be able to feel her… Every day I sit in silence just thinking about Mom… However long it takes for me to stop thinking about everything sad… When I do that I can feel Mom… It's working right now… Mom's always going to be with us, Tristam. Now, we need to head back because my hour's almost up…"

_**A/N: Took me a bit to write this because I got distracted… . *looking at youtube again* Aaaaaaanyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. X3 You got to see a sweet brother/sister moment between Ulrich and Lia. =3 Next chapter we'll get to the more serious stuff again. XD**_

_**Read and review! (that means you… *watching the people that don't review* XD)**_

~_**MoonlitxAngel**_


	21. Return

_**Return**_

_** A/N: I'll probably be changing around ideas in my profile here soon. XD The last one in my list of stories to come will probably change a bit. XD That or be deleted and I'll fix another story to fit this new idea. XD**_

_** To the story!**_

Ulrich closed his eyes as he stood in the scanner, waiting for Jeremie to finish doing what his father had told him. It was important that Jeremie get it right, so Damien was watching. Damien might eventually need the same information.

After much objecting on his part he finally caved and said that he'd go back home. He wouldn't be staying too long. It would be just long enough to prove to the Council that he was back. Then he'd be back here and wait for Jeremie and Odd to give him the okay to come back to school, if he got back before they got there.

"We're here now," he heard his father say calmly as everything around him seemed to come to a standstill.

Opening his eyes he saw an area bathed in green sunlight. It was a relatively small place, but everything around him gave the appearance of a bright forest. Everything around him looked like it was in much greater detail than it normally was on Earth. "Whoa…"

"Yeah, it really makes everything look kind of dull when you're not here," Aivillia stated happily as she twirled around.

"Yeah, that's definitely true…" he whispered as they continued walking forward.

"Zephyr, I want you to show him around while I get everything set up to meet with the Council and getting things situated around the house," his father said, stopping in the middle of the road. "I understand how things work at your boarding school, but we'd love to have you here at home, too."

"I know, but they check that we're all there. Maybe we can figure something out. I'll ask Jeremie when I get back…" he said quietly. Whether he remembered the outgoing kid he used to be or not, he was still Ulrich and he would still rather not have everyone hear him speaking.

"C'mon Tristam. We've got to get you re-acquainted with some old friends and with this area itself. It may seem really small from here, but it's actually pretty big," Zephyr told the brunette as he swung his arm around him and led him in the opposite direction of their father and Aivillia.

"So how many of us are there?" he asked as he tried to look to see everything around him. The area really did look like a real forest civilization. Houses were nestled into tree trunks or near a tree and flowers covered the ground in multitudes of vibrant colors.

"Well, in each of the four colonies there are about twenty-five people as of the last time the Council checked. We're pretty small right now and this bubble we're in can continually expand to make more space for people. It won't interfere with anything on Lyoko, either. Anyway, Dad's like the chief here. He's in the Council as are the other three chiefs. Mostly these areas are just housing. If you need anything you tell the chief and that person goes and gets it from the Center or the fifth sector. Each of us has our talents and we're happy to share that with others so really, everything's free as long as the person is willing to part with it. The rest of us really don't have to eat. Dad isn't really sure if you have to or if it's just become a habit…" Zephyr explained as they walked down a cobble stone road.

Trying to take everything in at once was making his head hurt. Looking around at all the people staring at him had been disorienting at first, since he knew the reason they were staring, but he'd gotten used to it and was now enjoying just walking around and looking at the new and different things around him.

"Right now, since we don't have a lot of time, I'm just going to introduce you to someone that may become your sister-in-law. Her name is Fiera," Zephyr said as they neared the walkway of a beautiful house.

"Zeph, Dad told me to come tell you that we're ready to take Tristam to the Council. You can introduce him to Fiera later," Aivillia came up to the two and stated as she came and hugged Tristam. "You know we've all really missed you…"

"I remember her… Weren't you two dating even when I was little?" he asked as they made their way back toward the house.

"Yup, we've been together for a long time. Both our parents asked us to wait till we were at least twenty-one and so now we're both there and still together and so we decided to get married here soon. I told her that I wanted you to be here for it, anyway," Zephyr told him, placing his hands behind his head and looking upwards.

"So what happens when I meet the Council, anyway?" he asked as they made their way into their house.

"Well, right now this is just them being proven to that you're alive. They'll probably ask a few questions about what happened so that they can better protect us in the future," Aivillia told him as they entered a room that was probably their father's room.

"Don't be nervous, Tristam," the older man told him as he lead him toward a different exit to the building. "I'll be there also and I'll make sure that the whole experience isn't too overwhelming. After that if there's still time I'd like for you to meet them without being in the Council room and we'll see where that takes us. I'll be there with you the whole time, though."

He nodded, that's all he could do. He'd been so nervous walking into the house that he'd kept his head down the whole time. He could tell that people were used to just stopping in and, if he remembered correctly, did so often. It was his own home and he was afraid to see everything in it…

"We've all had to meet with the Council once or twice before and it's really not all that bad," Zephyr told him with a small smile and an encouraging nudge to their father.

"Well, it's a bit of a different case, though. Tristam is the future of our entire civilization," Aivillia stated, making Ulrich stop.

"You do realize that that statement just made me way more nervous than I already was?" he asked as he stood up next to their father and got ready to be transported to wherever it was they were going.

_**A/N: Sorry I didn't get this out yesterday. ^^" I might not update this story as quickly here soon because I want to finish 'One Letter'. I have everything written out, I just need to type it. XD**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	22. The Council

_**The Council**_

_** A/N: Alright, so I should've worked on this last night, but then the power went out and I was baby-sitting my friend's daughter. XD Soooooo I had to catch up on sleep and was sleeping until seven this afternoon. XD Looks like I needed to catch-up on sleep. XD**_

_** Anyway, to the story!**_

Andraus motioned for Ulrich to step forward. The two were in a circular room filled with tables with papers here and there, chairs, a few desks, and three men in their forties or fifties sitting at a long table in front of the two. "It's going to be fine, Tristam…"

He nodded, but he still wasn't all that sure. It got him wishing that he'd never met Aivillia and Zephyr in the first place. The whole thing had turned into this and he still couldn't believe that it was real.

"We don't have all day, Andraus. If your son isn't here just tell us and we'll let it slide," one of the older men stated from his place at the table.

"He's here, just a little anxious," he replied back as he knelt to look Ulrich in the eyes. "Listen to me, I'm right here with you. I'm not sure what's making you afraid, but they're not going to do anything."

Ulrich nodded. Truth be told, he didn't know what was causing the nervousness sitting in the pit of his stomach, either. Maybe it was just the fact that coming here and seeing everything again was overwhelming and it was scaring him. He wasn't sure, but he walked forward anyways and stood before the three men.

"So you've finally found the young man, Andraus," the man in the middle of the three stated as he stood, hands clasped behind his back, to look Ulrich up and down.

"It's not polite to talk about someone when they're standing right there, you know," Ulrich stated, crossing his arms against his chest. Right at that moment he was pulling his attitude from memories of himself when he was younger. At that age he could be very rude to people if they were rude. He instantly realized something and voiced his thoughts, "So I see you saw it fit to have my mother killed because she'd 'lost' me. Is that how things work around here?"

"Still the same as ever, I see," the man to the left stated as he joined the other one in standing.

"These three are known most commonly known as Absolem, El, and Icarus. Absolem is the chief of the ice sector, El is the chief of the desert sector, and Icarus is the chief of the mountain sector. You should show them due respect, but I've been wondering that myself. Is that really how we wish for the younger people to see us?" Andraus asked as he took his place behind Ulrich.

Ulrich watched the three, not flinching when they glared in his direction. He wasn't sure if they were glaring at him or not, but with him back him and his family were invincible. They couldn't touch them. "Are you going to answer or will you just stand there glaring at one of us?"

The three exchanged a glance before Icarus stood up and cleared his throat. "We apologize for that rush decision. Back then Spheilia was your sole caretaker since your father was helping us with some issues with the system we were having and so we held her in full responsibility for your disappearance."

"It wasn't my mother or father's fault. One of the Creators found out where we were and brought along their new hunter child, Zender. Him and the other three are still after me. Zender burnt my back and then the rogue Creator that is the reason we're all here today erased my memories and tried to contact my father, but couldn't. He tried to tell him where I was, but all communication was blocked. I trust that he told me the truth," he explained, glaring back.

"At the point in time of your disappearance, young man, we didn't know what exactly had happened. We knew that there was a Creator involved as your mother told us she'd seen him, but we didn't know how they knew you'd be where you were. We needed to protect everyone so we shut down communication to the outside world and basically went into hiding. At one point in time we couldn't even leave this place until we created an emergency exit system. We've had no contact with the man that created Lyoko in a very long time," Absolem stated, looking toward Andraus.

"I can explain that one. Xana, which I hope you know about Xana with how much time you must spend here, attacked him and his daughter when they were running from some men that were trying to destroy Lyoko. He's lost on the Net somewhere now," he explained as he tried to find something that would tell him the time.

"I think we've talked enough for today. We'll be visiting each of you separately when we get the chance for Tristam to come here again. For now we must leave, because his friends on Earth are probably looking for him about now," his father stated as he steered Ulrich around.

"It was a pleasure to see you again…" El stated in a way that sent a shiver down Ulrich's spine.

"I get a bad feeling from them…" he whispered as they left the way they'd come.

"I thought you might. Something is off about El and Absolem. They haven't been their normal selves in a long time. I want you to be able to meet them separately so you might be able to find what's making them that way. They used to be quite nice men. I liked working with them. Ever since you disappeared, however, they've changed. They rule their areas with an iron fist and if someone steps out of line they're threatened with death. Which is basically being thrown into the Net. That, or being killed on Earth. I couldn't stand there and watch your mother's death so you'd have to ask your sister or brother how they killed her," Andraus explained as they got back into the house.

"How'd it go? They didn't creep you too much, did they?" Zephyr asked quickly.

"It went fine, I think. And they did a bit, but I'm alright. Would you mind taking me to meet Fiera and then coming back with me to meet my friends?" he asked, not looking at his dad. He couldn't talk to him about what he needed to yet. Zephyr was there and now wasn't the right time, but he definitely needed to get to it as soon as possible. He also needed to check into the other Council members. Absolem and El definitely weren't acting correctly. He remembered them to be really nice. They used to give him candy or something when he was passing by…

"Hey, I'll go stall your friends since it's already three thirty there. They won't mind hanging out with me, I don't think. I know Jeremie wants to know more about how all this," she stated, motioning around her, "works and all."

He nodded and headed out with Zephyr, still not daring to look around the house at all the eyes watching him.

_**A/N: Finally sat down and got this chapter typed out. I'm seeing maybe not even ten more chapters… P: Normally these predictions of mine are not correct, though. XD As soon as this is done I'll finish up One Letter unless I get time to type tomorrow or some other time. XD**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	23. Enter, the Hunters!

_**Enter, the Hunters**_

_** A/N: I'm hoping to get this out tonight. =3 Some questions that have been asked by you guys will be answered here in this chapter. XD**_

_** To the story!**_

__"Can I join you?" Lirril asked Ulrich as she looked up at him sitting in a tree.

Ulrich jumped down and sat at the base of the tree, looking up at the stars. "I don't mind, but I know you're here to talk to me."

"Yeah, I guess you figured me out… You know, you looked really upset when you came back earlier… What happened?" she asked as she scooted so the two were sitting side-by-side.

"I just learned some stuff I didn't want to hear… My dad wasn't there when my mom was killed and Zephyr told me he didn't go to her funeral either… He's hiding the fact that if you're on Earth at the time that you turn seven then we're able to stay here like I do… Everyone there looks at me with such expectation that I can't even look at them… I don't know what I'm supposed to do or how I'm supposed to do it and it's all too overwhelming… I couldn't confront my dad earlier about it because I didn't want to talk to him about it in front of Absolem, El, and Icarus and he basically made me leave with Zephyr as soon as we got back…"

Lirril sighed and patted his shoulder. "If I was you I'd contact him tomorrow after classes. It's Saturday so we're out at noon. You really need to talk to him about that stuff if it's bugging you this bad that you can't sleep… Have you thought about talking to the Sterns about all this?"

Ulrich shook his head. "They'd freak and send us all to a mental institution. They'd never believe in any of this… Dad would probably tell me to get my head out of the clouds."

Lirril gave a short nod and joined him in looking at the stars. "You know, you're pretty lucky, Ulrich… You've got two families that love you… I was basically created to be a killing machine… I don't have anyone besides you guys…"

"When I was younger I used to think that the Sterns weren't my real parents… I grew up being afraid of fire… I grew up not knowing anything past when I woke up at the hotel there…"

"I know how you feel, trust me… I would be tweaked and changed to the Creators' desires so much that I don't remember the night we were all sent after you… I think Zender does, but he won't say anything…"

"Yeah, anyway I think I can go to bed now… Thanks for coming out here and talking with me…" he said as he stood up and dusted the dirt off his pants.

"No problem," she replied with a smile as she did the same. "Be careful, okay?"

He nodded and watched her walk off before following suit back toward the dorms.

"It's been quite some time since we've talked fully face-to-face, Tristam…" a voice whispered behind the brunette as the leaves on the trees rustled.

"It has, hasn't it? You're quite the stalker-ish little puppet, aren't you?" he asked as he turned to face Zender.

"It's been just about fourteen years since you and I last faced off. And who are you calling a puppet? The only reason those rogues want you back is so that you can 'save' them or whatever the hell it is they want. The Creators want you back because you're quite the extraordinary AI. I'm tasked with the job of taking you back there. You can either come quietly or I'll take you unconscious. Your choice," Zender stated as Aiko and Amelina came out from the trees behind Zender and stood on either side of him.

"Y'know, three against one isn't fair…" he muttered, folding his arms across his chest and frowning. "So, are you going to give me some sort of head start or what since you've two more people than I do?"

"I don't cheat. I just bend the rules in my favor," Zender replied shortly as he summoned a ball of fire to float above his hand. "And whether you like it or not you're coming with us."

-Aivillia-

She tossed her pillow against the wall and curled up in a ball on the floor in tears. She'd let her guard down and Zender had had his way with her while she was drugged up on whatever she knew he slipped in her food or drink or something earlier. She knew she'd seen him and she knew he'd done something, but she didn't want to believe it. She could feel that Ulrich was in trouble, but didn't dare go outside… She couldn't face Zender right now, but she knew someone who could…

Odd was off who knows where with who knows who so she had the room to herself. She pulled a long shirt over herself and went to the computer and began getting it set to establish a link with Zephyr. She needed him and fast.

"Sis, not to be rude but you do realize that it's two in the morning and I was sleeping, right?" he asked as he answered, rubbing his eyes.

She made sure the tears were dry from her face and nodded. "Zeph, Tristam's in trouble and I can't get out of the building. He's in the forest thinking, but I can feel that something is wrong and-"

"Are you sure? You've had that feeling before," he stated interrupting her mid-sentence.

"Zender was here…" she whispered really low.

"What did he do? I can tell he did something by the way you're talking…"

"Just forget about me. Tristam's in trouble and I can't go. He's in the forest and you're the only one that can get there in time," she stated quickly as she heard footsteps nearing the door. "Use an emergency transporter and go save him!" she whisper-yelled as she shut the computer off and hid underneath the desk.

"That desk really isn't the best hiding space, Lia," Odd's voice stated as the door silently closed.

She let loose a sigh of relief and crawled out. "Odd, I've never been so happy to see you…"

"Why's that?" he asked as he slipped into bed without changing or taking off his shoes.

"Trust me, you really don't want to know…"

-Aelita-

"Jeremie, you and I both need our sleep so you'd better get to bed," she told him as she tried to get underneath his computer desk to pull the plug. She hated doing it to Jeremie, but he needed the sleep. He hadn't barely had a wink of sleep since the night before last and she was beginning to worry.

"Just give me one more minute, Aelita," he stated distractedly.

"I've given you an hour in 'one more minutes', Jeremie," she told him as she finally got underneath the table and got her hand on the cord. "Now get off the computer or I'm unplugging it."

Jeremie sighed and rolled away from the computer and got into bed. He'd changed into his pajamas earlier, per Aelita's instructions.

"You can figure it all out tomorrow after classes…" she whispered as she kissed the genius's forehead. "Go to sleep."

_**A/N: So Jeremie's still have a fit because he didn't know about the civilization of the AIs, Ulrich's in trouble, and Zender raped Aivillia. XD I can be cruel to my charries… But they know I love 'em. XD I blame Zender! ^^ Sorry for randomness… It's four in the morning… -_-" I couldn't sleep. XD**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	24. New Way

_**New Way**_

_** A/N: Good and ready to update again. =3 I didn't update yesterday because I was helping a friend of mine through a rough time. =( Their little baby boy died yesterday (as in the 13**__**th**__**).**_

_** Anyway, to the chapter!**_

__Ulrich stood motionless, the embers of the fire surrounded the four and kept Ulrich in a tight circle.

"See, I'm not cheating right now. I'm bending the rules so that I win," Zender stated as he took a step towards Ulrich.

Ulrich tried to tell his body to move, but it refused. Trees were burning around him and he heard someone yell, but nothing registered with him. His fear of fire was still there and very strong. Even swallowing was difficult.

Amelina giggled and turned to face Zender. "You see, you've scared him so bad he can't move!"

"Tristam, jump over the fire! You can do it!" Zephyr shouted over the wall of flames licking the tree trunks.

Ulrich snapped his eyes shut. Envisioning this as an attack from Xana, which haven't happened in awhile, he bent down and pushed his legs to send him sailing over the flames and to Zephyr's side.

"See? That's what you can do. Do you remember that?" Zephyr asked as he took Ulrich's wrist and began running from Zender and the other two.

Ulrich nodded. "Why didn't Lia come? She could have done better. Couldn't she do something with water?"

"Yeah, but she said she couldn't get out of the dorms," Zephyr explained as they ran.

Ulrich ran at Zephyr's side and for a few seconds they were fine until Zephyr pushed Ulrich to the side and a beam of golden light shot where Ulrich had been seconds ago.

"Now that's just not fair, Zephyr," Aiko complained as the three came from the trees. "We couldn't get a clear shot because you pushed him out of the way."

Zephyr shrugged and helped Ulrich up. "That's what big brothers are for. They're not fair, but they're here to protect you."

"And we're here to take him back with us. He belongs with the Creators," Aiko stated as she grabbed a small capsule and held it in her fingers.

"He doesn't belong with you guys! He belongs with his family!" Zephyr shouted as he grabbed Ulrich and began running again.

"And so the chase begins…" Aiko whispered as she got ready to flick the small capsule in the two's direction.

-Aivillia-

"Don't pry, Odd," she snapped as she wiped a few stray tears from her eyes. She'd randomly started crying after he'd walked into the room and he was demanding answers.

"Ulrich would kill me if I sat here and let you cry," Odd stated stubbornly, crossing his arms and looking down at her.

She turned her head away from him and stared intently at the edge of the blanket that lay on the floor for her to sleep on. She and Ulrich occasionally switched, but she was okay with being on the floor.

"Lia, tell me now or when Ulrich gets back I'll tell him and he'll get it out of you. Either way I'll hear what happened because I'm not leaving this room," he told her with more force in his voice. "And don't think you'll be able to make Ulrich make me leave either."

"Why do you care so much what's bothering me?" she asked, turning to face him again with tears glistening in her eyes. She didn't feel comfortable telling Odd what had happened with Zender.

"If I didn't care then I'd be heartless. You're my best friend's sister. How in the world do you expect me to just ignore that and not try to get you to talk to me about what's up?"

She was surprised, to say the least. She'd always thought of Odd as a bottomless pit and a prankster. Nothing more. He actually seemed to have a caring side… "It's Zender, okay? He was here before you got here and he… he…" She covered her face with her hands and cried. She felt so vulnerable right now… She could feel that Ulrich was in trouble… She didn't dare send Odd or his other friends after him… It was too dangerous… She still didn't trust Lirril all the way so she had to rely on Zephyr… "There's nothing I can do, because he basically doesn't exist…"

"I'm sorry… Should I call your older brother? Seth, was it?" he asked gently as he looked as if he were contemplating coming down and hugging her.

She shook her head. "You wouldn't reach him… He's helping Tristam as we speak… We can't go out there… Zender is after Tristam again and I'm afraid that you'll all end up hurt if you go out there… I can't face Zender after what he did… I can't go out there and fight… I sent Zephyr to help, but I can still feel that they're in trouble…"

-Ulrich-

He panted as he looked at Zephyr lying on the ground beside him, looking as if he were sleeping. He'd been hit with whatever it was that Aiko had been shooting at the two and was now on the ground.

"Finally got him," Aiko stated triumphantly as Zender walked over and kicked Zephyr to the side.

"Now, are you going to come with us or will we have to use one of those on you, too?" Zender asked as he placed his arm over Ulrich's shoulders.

"Why? Why do the Creators want me so badly? I'm nothing special! I'm just another of the rogue AIs!" he shouted, sending birds flying.

"Quiet down or you'll wake everyone up…" Amelina warned, a hint of playfulness in her eyes.

"Maybe the Creators will explain that to you…" Zender stated as he forced Ulrich to walk forward. "Now, if you don't come along we'll do what we did to Zephyr to you."

"I don't even know-" he began to say before Aiko interrupted.

"He has been infected with a virus. Each of these small capsules can be shot off at an AI and used to infect them with the virus. We've infected him with a small one that will alter his memories. Zender chose what he remembers and what he doesn't, so you'll just have to deal with it. I've got one here that will force you to listen to me, so I suggest you follow quietly," Aiko stated as she turned on her heels and jumped up into the trees.

Amelina followed suit and motioned for the two to come forward a few seconds later.

"I'll go back and kill him if you don't move," Zender whispered in Ulrich's ear.

He knew that this was going to end badly for him, but followed Zender down the path away from Kadic.

_**A/N: Good, bad, average? I wanna know! Your reviews keep me going and NO ONE has reviewed last chapter yet. =(( I tend to come up with ideas better when I know for sure that people are reading.**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	25. Capture

_**Capture**_

_** A/N: I never did hear back about when the funeral for the little guy is, but I'm here hoping my friend and his girlfriend are alright. =3 So, I left you with quite the cliffhanger, huh? XD Well now you'll get to see what happens next. ^-^**_

_** To the story!**_

Aivillia pulled the covers over her head and groaned. "I'm not getting up…"

"Just because Zender did that doesn't mean that you can't get out of bed. You need to wait for Ulrich and your brother," Odd told her as he swiped her blanket and tossed it aside. "I'm up and that's rare because normally Ulrich has to get me up."

"Don't you get it? !" she shouted, turning to face him with tears now racing down her face. "They got him, Odd! They probably have Zephyr now, too and Dad's going to kill me when he finds out because _I_ was supposed to protect Tristam! _I _was supposed to be the one to make sure that he was okay and now both my brothers are gone!" She desperately needed for someone to understand and Odd was the only one there at the moment.

"Shh! Jim will catch us and then they'll find out for sure that you're here!" Odd whispered as he sat beside her. "Now listen to me. I've known Ulrich for awhile and he's a strong guy… He can definitely hold his own. I have no idea about your brother Zephyr, but if they come from the same place they're probably pretty similar. I bet they're both fine…"

"Odd, are you coming? Breakfast-" Lirril started, opening the door and seeing the two on the ground. "Are you okay, Aivillia?"

She shook her head. "If… If they got T-Tristam, where would th-they take him?"

"When we captured him we were ordered to bring him back to the Creators… They never told us exactly why they wanted him. I think Zender knew, but none of the rest of us dared question him because he's got a way to infect us with a virus. He could make our entire system obsolete if he wanted to…" she whispered as she shut the door and sat on Odd's bed in front of her. "Did they come back?"

Aivillia nodded and began to cry harder. "They got Tristam… I know it… Zephyr and him would have come back by now…"

"We'll get them back… I can lead you to a way to get to the Creators and save him…" Lirril whispered as she stood up and stretched. "Odd, come to breakfast and we'll tell the others and we can head off after classes. We can make some sort of excuse."

Aivillia nodded and wiped her eyes just for new tears to replace them.

-Ulrich-

The room he was in was alright. It had a comfortable looking bed, a desk with a chair, a few lamps here and there, a dresser, and an alarm clock that looked already set.

Pacing around the room wasn't helping to calm his nerves about being here and neither was the fact that they all seemed perfectly fine without food, water, or sleep while he was extremely tired and couldn't sleep because he was hungry and thirsty. He tried to go out and ask for something, but the door was locked shut.

He threw himself onto the bed and looked at his alarm clock. At this moment his friends were probably wondering where he was and Zephyr would be waking up soon… All of this was unfair to everyone involved… It seemed they were trying to torture him or something.

A TV screen came out from the wall and flashed on. Zender's face appeared and he cleared his throat and waited for Ulrich to get off the bed.

Ulrich stood and faced him. "So is your plan to starve me to death? Make me die of dehydration? Deprive me of sleep and then try to make me do something by convincing me to do it?"

"We were created not to need to eat or sleep for days on end. I haven't eaten food since I was a child. We don't-" Zender began with a slight smirk on his face.

"But I do, Zender! When I was younger and living with the family that took me in I got really badly dehydrated one summer!" he shouted, taking the pillow he'd thrown earlier and throwing it at the screen.

"You should really work on that temper, child. It could get you in a lot of trouble here… Then again, you'll be meeting someone soon enough…" Zender told him, that smirk re-appearing.

"And who would that be? The person starving me?"

"The person is the Creator that created your parents. You're different and they want to know why. I'm not even exactly sure what makes you so special. They think that they need saving, but they don't. They're fine in those little bubbles, aren't they? They're putting all this pressure on you for nothing," Zender taunted.

"Just go away," Ulrich told him as he flopped back down on the bed and hid underneath the covers.

-Aelita-

"Lia said that she'd go and look in the forest for Seth and Ulrich. She'll text me when she's found either of them. Now we need to figure out what we're doing if we don't find Ulrich by the time that classes are over…" Odd muttered as he looked around to make sure that no one was listening.

"From the information that Jeremie and I have gathered from Aivillia, Zephyr, and Andraus the AIs that we're dealing with are made to be much stronger and more resilient than any others. They'll stop at nothing to keep Ulrich with them so it's probably going to be difficult to get him back. Any ideas or suggestions?" Aelita asked as she ate her eggs.

"There's really not a lot that any of us can do… There's no doubt in my mind that as soon as, if not before, they got back Zender told the Creators that I'm not on their side any longer so I won't be allowed in there any time soon… It'd be a long shot, but I might be able to dress one of you up as someone in there I know that disappeared, but like I said it'd be a long shot and they might figure you out…" Lirril said as she scrunched up her eyebrows in thought.

"I know that you guys probably aren't going to like this idea, but you have to hear me out…" Jeremie muttered as he moved his laptop from his lap and looked at each of them.

"We're listening, Einstein," Odd stated through a mouthful of food.

"If you guys agree I'll call Yumi and fill her in and then we'll meet up at the Factory after school. I think that we should see if Xana will help us…" Jeremie told them as he checked around to make sure that no one was listening.

_**A/N: I apologize for lateness… I had it almost finished one night and then next thing I know… writer's block. If you guys have any ideas or suggestions I'd love to hear them. =3 And I'm feeling really dumb right now, but I forgot my reason for why Ulrich was special… -_-"""""""" I'm a failure. Again, suggestions are welcome and you'll get the chapter dedicated to you. =3**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	26. Unexpected Partnership

_**Unexpected Partnership**_

_** A/N: I have got to get my butt in gear, Damnit! D= I don't like updating every other day. XD Gotta work on that. X3**_

_** To the story!**_

__They all sat and stared at Jeremie with looks of pure confusion on their face.

"Do you really think that Xana would even agree to something like that?" Aelita asked gently as she began to think of the possibilities.

"I don't think it's too big a long shot for him to want to help us. The Creators know about where the rogues are, right? They know they're on Lyoko and the Creators would do anything to stop them. They might try to attack Lyoko and Xana isn't going to have enough power by itself to stop them. Xana has only ever come out as a possessed human, but I think that we need to give this a shot and try to speak with him," Jeremie stated as he looked around the table at everyone's faces.

"I think that we should ask Damien what he thinks. He told us that he was protecting Lirril from being shut down from their computer and we might not even have enough power to do a transfer," Aelita stated as she finished up her food.

"That's true. I'll ask him right now. Just tell the teacher that I forgot my books in my dorm or something silly like that," Lirril stated as she got up and walked off.

"Next person to see Yumi tells her that Ulrich is missing and that we're meeting after classes at the Factory to see if Xana will help us," Odd stated as he began shoveling food in his mouth.

"Truthfully, I think that Jeremie should tell her. It's his plan," Aelita stated as she stood, getting ready for the bell to ring.

Odd shoveled food faster and Jeremie and Aelita walked off towards class.

-Aivillia-

She sighed with frustration as her searching began to look like it wasn't going to give her anything. A lot of time had passed since Lirril had informed her of the plan that Jeremie had. They really only seemed to be worried about Ulrich and not Zephyr at all. As she neared the center of the forest she saw someone lying on the ground. Rushing forward she saw that it was Zephyr and made her way over to him and began shaking him awake.

"Whaa…?" Zephyr asked as he sat up and stretched. "Hey Lia, what're you doing here? Morning already?"

"What happened last night, Zeph? You didn't come back this morning and Tristam is missing now, too…" she whispered as she tackled him in a hug.

Zephyr rubbed his head and hugged her back, looking up toward the sky. "I don't remember… I remember coming out here and looking for Tristam, but then nothing. I guess I was a lot more tired than I thought. I must have fallen asleep…" he muttered as the two broke their hug and stood up.

"Alright, well Tristam is still missing and I think that he's been taken since you nor I found him. Jeremie came up with a plan and told me to meet him at the Factory if I didn't find you or Tristam by noon and it's nearly there," she stated as she made her way toward the entrance to the sewers.

Zephyr shrugged his shoulders and followed after her.

-Yumi-

She paced the room behind Jeremie biting her lip. She really didn't like this plan, but Odd and Aelita had convinced her to at least give it a try. It was dangerous and could easily backfire in their faces, but she knew that they had to give it a try or else they might risk losing Ulrich forever…

"I can only send two of you, so I want to send Aelita and Yumi," Jeremie stated plainly as he spun around to face the bunch from in his chair.

After classes they'd all rushed here and found Aivillia, Zephyr, and Damien all already in the computer, so they'd been ready to begin.

"You ready, Yumi?" Aelita asked as she made her way to the elevator.

She gave a brisk nod before following the pink-haired girl down to the scanners.

"I'm going to be sending you to the Mountain Sector and we'll see how far we get into this. Xana sent me exact coordinates to where he'd be so I'll send you there. Odd will be standing by waiting in case you two need back-up," Jeremie told them as he got ready to scan them.

Both gave the okay and they were scanned onto Lyoko.

-Aelita-

"Yumi, are you sure that you're alright?" she asked gently as the two waited after landing.

She nodded. "I'm just worried about Ulrich is all…"

"We're all worried, but we don't need to… We'll get him back…" she whispered as a group of Xana's Krabs walked up and looked over the two before parting.

"This is it…" Jeremie told the two, his voice full of hope.

The two watched as a black human-shaped thing walked up to them. It was covered in what looked to be red veins running through the ink-like darkness of its skin.

"What is it that you're proposing?" it asked, its voice sounding a bit static-y.

"We have a temporary allegiance to take out the people that made the rogue AIs that are living here on Lyoko. We know that they've been trying to get into Lyoko and are assuming that you've stopped them so far. When they do get in we think that they may come after you," Jeremie stated from the sky. "So, we'd like to team up with you to take down these people so as to protect Lyoko and get one our teammates back."

"I see… I'm assuming you've come up with some rules?" Xana asked, looking toward the two girls.

"You don't attack or harm us in any way and we'll do the same as long as you help us in the best possible way that you can so that we can get Ulrich back here and to protect the rogues and Lyoko," Aelita stated as she looked over at Yumi and gave her a re-assuring smile.

"Sounds simple enough…" Xana said plainly as it looked toward Lyoko's sky.

-Ulrich-

He elbowed the man that entered his room in the face, jumped over him as he fell, and made a mad dash for the door down the hall. He'd been planning this little escape plan all morning and knew that if Zender appeared and it ended in a fight he might be able to get out.

Alarms blared and sirens sounded, but still there so far wasn't anyone that was getting in his way until he got one door away from freedom.

"Child, do you really think there's escape from a place like this after Spheilia and Andraus escaped? Did you think that in that time we twiddled our thumbs and didn't make sure that you AIs would be unable to escape?" A man with graying deep red hair asked as he stood at the door to the outside.

"I thought that was too easy… Why do you want me so badly anyway? I know that my parents ran away, but that doesn't mean that you can come after me. There are people that care about me and would notice my absence if I'm gone too long. You'd have the cops here after you and when they found out about all this I don't know what they'd do," Ulrich stated as he took a fighting pose.

"The police would shut the entire project down. That would mean that you'd be without your father. You were created somewhere else so your coding is stored at your place of creation. You wouldn't be in danger, but trust me that your parents would be. I could delete your father right now if you wish," the man threatened, removing a phone from his pocket. "All it will take is one short phone call and I can have them all destroyed right now. You see, we aren't sure why but something in your coding prevents you from being deleted and that spreads to AIs that you're around or have a connection with. We haven't been able to attack your family until now because you were protecting them without even knowing it!"

"Wouldn't that take up too much power from whatever computer I would be on?" he asked, skeptical of the older man.

"Your father is too smart for his own good. He's made it so that you take up less space."

Ulrich looked at the man as if he were crazy. This whole thing was crazy and there wasn't a thing he could do about it. He started backing away towards his room so he could watch the man to make sure he didn't contact anyone, but was stopped when I sharp pain exploded from the small of his back and spread throughout his entire body. He fell to the ground.

"Thank you, Zender. If you would, take him back to his room," the older man stated as Zender made his way toward Ulrich.

"No problem. Just so you know the virus that I've implanted in him will give me complete command over him. Oh, and I'm out of virus capsules," Zender replied as he picked up Ulrich and started carrying him down the hall toward his room.

-Aelita-

She watched as Xana pondered their offer. It didn't seem like it would take this long for the virus to think, but apparently it did. That or he was stalling and making sure that they waited all day. She presumed the latter.

"I'll help you," it stated with a smirk.

_**A/N: I know the little ending bit is small, but I needed Xana's decision to be heard. XD Anyway, I apologize for the delay. Writer's block has popped up once again. XD I hate it…**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	27. Rescue Mission Part 1

_**Rescue Mission (Part 1)**_

_** A/N: And again I won't be able to post two days in a row… -_-" I woke up late then I fell asleep when the power went out and then (on top of all that) I got caught up on the forums on Xana's Lair. XD The site is starting to get active again… XD First time on it, though… XD**_

_** To the story!**_

"We need to get to work right now. Aelita and Yumi, I'm bringing you back in. Odd's coming up here and Lirril and Damien are working on a map so that we know where we're going and what our objective is," Jeremie stated, spinning around in his computer chair and hopping down after making sure that the sound was on speaker so Xana could be heard and that the girls were on their way back.

"And what about Xana, Einstein? What's he supposed to do?" Odd asked as he came up from the scanners and sat down near Lirril.

"I'll get to that," he stated as Aelita and Yumi returned from the scanner room.

"You've got to have a plan by now, Jeremie," Damien stated as he handed over a sheet of paper that held a direct replica of the building that the Creators were housed in.

"We're here so the plans can begin!" Aivillia shouted as the elevator opened to reveal her and Zephyr.

"Good, everyone's here now. Right now I'm thinking that we'll do nothing special to Lirril, Lia, and Seth since they basically are already not like normal people. We've got five towers on Lyoko that are at our disposal to use now since Xana is on our side. I was thinking that his way of helping could be to send out specters for each of us so that we're basically xanafied without the mind-control part. The last one could be used to create a polymorphic clone of Ulrich so we have his abilities on our side. Any objections?" Jeremie asked as he looked over the map.

"Seems like a decent plan. I think it's the best way to use what we've got," Yumi stated as she walked over and looked at the map with Jeremie.

"Agreed," came Xana's voice from the computer.

"So what exactly can the two of you do?" Damien asked, standing up from where he'd been sitting.

"Well, I can control water and Zephyr can turn invisible," Aivillia explained, making her way over to stand with the others.

"As I see it, where they're probably holding Ulrich should be pretty easy to get to from the East entrance of the building. It's just down a hallway and through a couple of doors. Now, if we use that way they may have some traps set-up for us, are you guys confident we can take those on?" Jeremie asked, pointing to the different areas he was talking about on his map.

"Doesn't seem like it'll be too difficult. So if there's going to be a polymorphic clone with us, does that mean Xana will basically be with us?" Odd asked out of blue as Jeremie rolled up the map.

Jeremie nodded and placed the small map in his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. "Time to go."

(*)(*)(*)(*) Creator's Base (*)(*)(*)(*)

The seven stood at the East door of the Creator's building, trying to hear if there was anything inside. Jeremie had a Bluetooth sitting on his ear so he could speak to Damien. They now had someone telling them exactly where to go instead of trying to rely on a drawn map.

"As far as I can tell, you're safe to go in. Do remember that the Creators have no power over you, Aelita, Odd, or Yumi. They can, however, infect the other three with a virus. That means be careful," Damien told Jeremie.

"Aivillia, Zephyr, and Xana need to stay behind us. Lirril and Damien are standing by at the Factory to help. According to Lirril they can and will infect you with a virus if they get the chance," Jeremie instructed as the moved to open the door.

"And remember that we're just like a xanafied person, so we have that cool electric ball attack!" Odd whisper-yelled as Yumi gently pushed the door open and slipped inside.

"We haven't been detected yet…" Jeremie whispered as they made their way through the almost useless hallway.

"I've shut-off all security for a short while. I don't know how long it's going to hold, though. I hacked into their security system, but they've got special precautions in case that happens. I might have to fight for control. I'll warn you if I'm about to lose control," Damien told Jeremie as they left that hallway and entered the second.

"Now where to, Jeremie?" Aelita asked as they looked around the second hallway.

"In the room you're in now there should be three doors; one to the east, one to the west, and another to the north. You need to take the east door. That will lead you to the containment area. Once you get to that look for the door marked Tristam," Damien ordered in a rush.

Jeremie nodded and motioned for the others to follow him to the containment area.

When the seven were in they began searching for Tristam. Before long Yumi found the correct room and motioned for them to all come over.

"This is going way too e-" Zephyr began before having Aivillia's hand cover his mouth.

"Don't you dare say it or you'll jinx us if you haven't already," she said harshly as Yumi gently pushed open the door and the group slowly made their way inside.

"It doesn't look like he's in here…" Odd said, a disappointed tone layering his voice.

"Maybe they moved him or something…" Yumi suggested as she began searching through the room for any clues.

"I really doubt they'd move him. He's been a high priority target since he was four. They wouldn't move him to the solitary area because that's only for the people that have caused problems where you're at," Lirril told Jeremie and he relayed it to the others.

"Well, maybe they're questioning him or something…" Zephyr stated as they all headed toward the door till a noise behind them made them all snap back around.

Standing in front of them was Ulrich, but he looked slightly off…

_**A/N: And that's why there's a part two. XD You and I know that Ulrich being taken control of by Zender, but they don't know that. XD Anyway, Xana's Lair is to blame for the lateness… "XD I keep getting caught up on the forums and time gets away from me… XD**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	28. Rescue Mission Part 2

_**Rescue Mission (Part 2)**_

_** A/N: I'm not sure if there will be a part three for this or not. It all depends on how far this chapter takes us. I see there being a part three as I'm hoping to practice my fight writing in this chapter and have a battle between Ulrich/Tristam and some of the others there. Of course, not all of them will participate. XD**_

_** To the story!**_

"Ulrich, are you alright?" Odd asked, stepping a bit more forward so as to get closer to the brunette.

"I'm perfectly fine. I've just realized something while spending time here…" Ulrich stated as he went to lay on the bed. "I like it here."

"How could you like it here?" Yumi asked, taken aback by his reply.

He looked up at her and smirked. "How could I not? I mean here there's no school, no one really bothers me, and I can do whatever I want as long as I stay in this room unless they come and get me. We're allowed out as long as Zender, Aiko, or one of the Creators accompanies us."

"Sounds more like Zender's take on things, if you ask me…" Lirril told Jeremie, using the headset.

"I heard what she said and I agree. Come on out, Zender. I know you're hiding somewhere!" Aivillia shouted, looking around at her surroundings.

"So what? You've caught me. I'm pretty surprised, actually…" Zender stated from the doorway. He walked into the room, shutting and locking the door behind him. "Go ahead, test me if you want. Ask him anything you know that I don't know."

"We'll believe you for now," Zephyr stated as he stepped in front of Aivillia and crossed his arms. "Now, give him back or we'll make you."

"Oh? You'll make me now will you? Would you be able to fight off your brother?" Zender asked. At this point he'd already been standing beside Ulrich, but took a step back and Ulrich got into a fighting stance.

"I think it'd be safer of only Aivillia and I were to fight…" Zephyr stated, looking back over his shoulder at Jeremie and giving Aivillia enough view to watch Ulrich for him. "He's going to be stronger now that his memories are back, so I doubt any of you could take him on, even being xanafied. Ask Lirril what she thinks you should do and go from there. I'll have Aivillia call you when we're done, because I know we're going to win."

"I won't be getting into this fight. I'm confident that Tristam can handle this by himself. So, I'll be leaving," Zender stated as he jumped out the window behind him and spoke with some guards before disappearing.

"Who's up first?" Ulrich asked, looking between the pair as Jeremie and the others disappeared out the door behind them.

Aivillia stepped around Zephyr. "I'll beat whatever has gotten into you out."

"Let me know if you need help," Zephyr stated as he moved back towards the door to watch the two fight.

The two circled each other, waiting for the other to make the first move. When no one did Aivillia took the chance and lunged forward, using her legs to propel her towards her target. She held out her fist and waited for an impact, but it didn't come. She stopped and realized he'd moved.

"Tsk tsk, you're going to need to be faster than that to catch me," Ulrich taunted with a small laugh.

Aivillia growled and lunged again, this time making sure it was toward the corner he was facing so he'd have no escape. She kicked to trip him and once he was on the floor she placed her foot on his stomach and pressed down.

"I'll give this round to you," Ulrich stated through labored breaths. "But, there's still another one till I'll let you win…"

"So this is just a game to you? !" She asked, clearly angered by that detail.

"For now, it'll help us both in the end," he stated as he got up and they returned to the middle of the room for round two. "I won't go easy this time."

Aivillia nodded in agreement and as the two circled each other she saw Zephyr disappear out of the corner of her eye. _Now what's he up to?_ She wondered, losing focus and giving Ulrich the chance to strike first.

He swung his arm around, aiming for her head, but at the last moment she blocked it with her hand and dodged downward, pushing herself to come around to his side. She immediately aimed for his side, trying not to hurt him terribly, and missed when he dodged out of the way. She quickly rolled away and picked up what looked to be a metal pipe. She steadied herself once more and ran towards him, aiming the pipe at his side.

Ulrich took the hit and fell to the ground from the force she'd put behind it, but quickly recovered and brought her to the ground. He got to his feet before her and placed his foot on her leg. "I suggest you give me this round before I break it."

"Not quite," she said, as she threw the pipe, which smacked him in the face. She quickly righted herself and looked for anything that would give her an advantage, as Ulrich had already recovered from the pipe. She knew that Zephyr had something up his sleeve, but she had no idea what it was.

"Tire him out and then I'll handle the rest… I've got an idea as to what happened here, so if you get him tired, I can fix it…" Zephyr's voice whispered in her ear.

She stretched her arms really quick, a sign that her and Zephyr had made-up to stand for yes or okay. She wasn't great at fighting, but she still had a trick or two up her sleeves… If she concentrated enough she might be able to do what she'd been practicing, but had never accomplished… Making an ice spear form out of the water in the air. Concentrating on the water coming together and becoming frozen, the way it does with atoms, she moved her hand in front of her and barely got half a spear, but it would do for now.

She knew that Ulrich wasn't going to stand there rubbing his face forever, so she ran forward and stabbed forward with the half-spear. She hoped it was enough, but it wasn't and he'd gotten a hold of the other end of the spear.

"Nice try," he stated as he attempted to grab the thing from her hands.

"I'm not finished yet," she stated as she let go of the spear and brought her leg up to try and kick him.

The two became interlocked in battle. Punches and kicks were thrown and dodged, but also made some hits. It looked like quite the frightening battle.

-Zephyr-

He watched from a safe distance as his siblings fought. He needed to wait for the right moment to attack. It wasn't going to be perfect, but it was going to do the needed job. He just needed to make sure Tristam was too weak to fight back or it could turn ugly. Watching the two fight brought back the memories of when he and Aivillia would spar at home, but that was for another day.

While he watched he made sure that Aivillia didn't push herself too hard. Usually she would push herself so far that she would end up passing out in the middle of a fight and he didn't need that and was relieved to see the two stop, both panting hard.

He made his way across the room and grabbed Tristam's hands, pulling them behind his back. He placed his knee in the small of his back and began to apply pressure. He could tell that that was where he'd been hit. If this went smoothly then they'd have Tristam back in no time at all…

-Ulrich-

He was too exhausted to be forced to listen to Zender's fading voice, telling him to fight back… He was too tired to fight back, even… He wanted to just give in… He wanted whatever Zender had hit him with to be gone… He opened his eyes and saw his sister's frightened face at his arms being held behind him. It hurt, but the pain was worth it if he'd be free.

Seconds later he felt something shoot from his back to his stomach and Zephyr sighed, relieved.

"Don't touch that, either of you," Zephyr ordered as got Ulrich onto his back ,piggyback style." If you want to bring it along, Lia, grab a blanket or something and then pick it up. If you touch it you'll be infected with whatever virus Tristam was infected with and I'll have to fight you."

She nodded and wrapped it up. Ulrich knew she thought they'd need it later.

"Ulrich, you just rest up. We might need your help later…" Aivillia told him as they made their way toward the door.

He nodded and rested his head against his older brother's shoulder. He knew he'd be safe with the two of them around…

_**A/N: Good or no? I think my fighting scenes have improved a bit, but that may just be me… ^^" Next will either be a flashback/sidething I want to share or part 3. Then comes probably about two more chapters. X3**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	29. Rescue Mission Part 3

_**Rescue Mission Part 3**_

_** A/N: Yay! No one's on Xana's Lair so I can focus on this story. XD I admit, I'm obsessed. XD IMPORTANT NOTE: Alright, so last chapter we saw Jeremie, Aelita, Yumi, Odd, and Xana leave the room. This is where this begins.**_

_** To the story!**_

"So now where are we headed, Jeremie?" Aelita asked as they left Zephyr and Aivillia to fight Ulrich.

"Well, Lirril said that she's going to lead us to their main computer. Damien knows how to get through most of the security and he wants us to set the computer to self-destruct. Then we'll have about ten minutes to get out before the building is destroyed," Jeremie told them as he began to leave the confinement area, per Lirril's instructions.

"If anyone tries to stop us I'll hold them off while you guys go on ahead. I'll catch up once I've gotten rid of them," Xana told them.

"Sounds reasonable enough. Do try to be quick about it, though, because we might need you in the control room when we get there," Aelita stated, following Jeremie into the next room.

"It doesn't seem like they've gotten any kind of alert yet, so we're safe until we're caught…" Yumi whispered as they kept walking.

"There are going to definitely be some in the control room. Lirril and Damien just told me that there's always at least three people in there at one time. If there isn't someone in there then an alarm must have gone off…" Jeremie stated.

"Well, if it gets to that then we should split up and make a commotion so that they're drawn out of the control room. Jeremie and I would go to the control room and then Yumi, Odd, and Xana can make their way somewhere else to make a commotion," Aelita explained as they made their way down a long hallway.

"Tell everyone to be very quiet down this hallway… You've got this hallway, another room, and then you're at the control room. This hallway is where the Creators sleep and I'm not sure if any of them would be asleep right now or not…" Lirril mentioned quietly as she and Damien began to talk about different things while the others travelled.

Seconds later a door busted open and a rather large, as in chubby, man walked out and turned toward the group. "Who are you and what're you doing here? This is a 'Creator's Only' area!"

"Looks like we're caught," Odd stated as he got into a fighting stance.

"Like I said before, I handle this guy. You guys worry about getting to our destination," Xana ordered, getting ready to fight the man. "I've been wanting to see what I can do…"

"Good luck, then," Odd told him as they moved towards the opposite wall so they wouldn't end up getting in the middle of the fight accidentally.

As the two fought Jeremie and the others made their way closer and closer to the door that led to the next room and then the control room. When they reached it Xana and the man were still engrossed in fighting and didn't see them leave.

"Alright, so now you're in the main hallway of the building. If you guys would have entered a different way than this is where you would've ended up," Damien told them as they made their way towards the middle of the room.

"If Yumi and Odd go all the way to the left and through the door on their right and start making noise they'll probably get those three out of the control room so you and Aelita can get in there. Damien will instruct you on where to go from there and then you'll hopefully be home free," Lirril told him.

Jeremie relayed the messaged and then brought Aelita over to a place to hide.

"Do be aware that you'll only have as much time as Xana, Yumi, and Odd can give you. I'll help guide you through the main parts of the computer, but you'll have to put your hacking skills to the test and get through the password to set the building to explode. Then, after all that, you'll have five minutes to get far enough away that you won't get hurt by the explosion," Damien explained as a siren went off.

Aelita and Jeremie watched closely as three men, all with grayed or graying hair, left the control room and quickly made their way toward where Yumi and Odd were stationed. Once they'd disappeared Aelita and Jeremie dashed into the control room and locked the door.

"Aelita, call Zephyr or Aivillia and tell them what's happening. Tell them that they need to stop by and get Xana and then get Yumi and Odd and get out. Explain to them their way around and then get off because by then I'll be at the access screen," Jeremie ordered as he sat down in front of the computer and got to work following Damien's instructions.

Aelita nodded and did as Jeremie asked and then joined him beside the computer. "They said they were already on their way here and couldn't find Xana, but they'd stop and get Yumi and Odd and then head outside where they'll be waiting for us by the exit near the door Yumi and Odd went through."

When Jeremie got to the password window he began to work on hacking into the system. Watching codes open and close on the screen and typing in the exact right thing was crucial to this. He knew he needed to get this right the first time, because if they were caught he doubted they'd be able to get back in here a second time. What these people were doing was wrong and he wouldn't put up with it. Computer stuff was Jeremie's forte and it was something he was proud of. After having Aelita re-look at everything quickly to make sure he got it right he hit the enter button and crossed his fingers…

"I'm in," he stated to let Lirril and Damien know that the four had done it.

"Yes! Alright, free all the AIs that are stored on those computers. They'll know where to go. You have to transfer Zender, Aiko, and Amelinda's data over to this computer. Damien says that their files were corrupted so that's why they're the way they are. After you do that hit the button to self-destruct the place. It should be around there," Lirril explained excitedly.

Jeremie followed her instructions and then hit the button.

"Five minutes to leave and I doubt it's going to be easy…" Aelita whispered as the two left the control room.

"Probably not, but we'll make it," Jeremie stated, moving his glasses up as a Creator neared them.

-Xana-(a small bit before the self-destruct button was hit)

He maneuvered his way around so that he wouldn't run into those children and made his way to the areas storage center. This would have to be where they kept those capsules, wouldn't it?

When he got inside he began searching around, pocketing things he found useful. When his eye finally caught the box marked 'capsules' and alarm began ringing. He knew the children had gotten to their destination and were setting the building to explode. Now was his time to get out of there without what he'd gone to search for…

_**A/N: Thought I'd show a little side thing as to what Xana was up to… XD Next chapter should be up tomorrow. X3 YES! Finally, I updated twice in a row again. X3**_

_** Read and review, everybody! X3**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	30. Memories and Escape

_**Memories and Escape**_

_** A/N: Alright, so the first half of this is just a cutesy memory of Ulrich's. X3 The second half is Zephyr, Aivillia, Ulrich, Yumi, and Odd's escape from the Creator's building. XD Ages: Zephyr is ten, Aivillia is five, and Ulrich/Tristam is 4. =3**_

_** To the story!**_

Ulrich tuned out everything that Zephyr and Aivillia were saying. Honestly, he was too tired to really care… He could tell that Zephyr was running because he was gently bouncing. It seemed to have hypnotic effect on Ulrich and soon he was drifting off to sleep…

(*)(*)(*)(*)

_"You know I hate to play kiddy games!" Zephyr complained as Aivillia and Tristam dragged him towards an open area next to some woods._

_ "It's not a kiddy game, Zephyr! Even Mom and Dad like to play it!" Tristam shouted near the woods._

_ Zephyr let loose a sarcastic sigh and then ran towards Tristam, carrying Aivillia on his back._

_ "Zephyr, you always do the silliest stuff, and you're supposed to be the older one!" Tristam said as Zephyr came to a halt in front of him._

_ "Well, I'm still only ten. Just 'cause I'm five years older than Aivillia and six years older than you doesn't mean I can't have fun," he stated, sticking his tongue out and letting Aivillia down. "So what game are we playing?"_

_ "We are going to play-" Tristam started, pointing toward the forest._

_ "Extreme tag," Aivillia finished, smiling up at Zephyr._

_ Zephyr groaned and pretended to die. "Didn't we play that __yesterday__?"_

_ "Uh, no," Aivillia stated, placing her foot on Zephyr's stomach. "That was Extreme Hide-and-Seek."_

_ "Which you lost miserably," Tristam stated, cracking a smile._

_ "So now you both are going to keep making me play games until I win?" he asked, eyebrow raised as he sat up, making Aivillia nearly fall._

_ "Yeah, Mom said that she didn't mind if you played with us for awhile," Tristam stated and then yelled, "Not it!"_

_ "Not it!" Aivillia shouted as she and Tristam made their way into the woods._

_ "Great…" he mumbled. "I'm it again…"_

_*.*.*_

_ A few hours later the three emerged from the woods. Aivillia was grinning, but tired. Zephyr was smiling and carrying a sleeping Ulrich on his back. "He gets tuckered out too quickly…"_

_ "Yeah, I think Mom's worried about him. Don't ask me why, though. Mom and Dad won't tell me…" Aivillia stated as they walked over a small hill and towards home._

(*)(*)(*)(*)

Ulrich cracked his eyes open a little bit to see what was going on. He was still pretty tired, but not so tired that he didn't feel the constant jerking and jolting.

"It's about time you woke up! You missed out on all the fun!" Odd shouted in his face.

Ulrich glared at him, but looked around to see that there were four Creators lying on the floor and everyone except for Lirril, Damien, Aelita, and Jeremie were standing in front of him. "Where are the others?"

Zephyr shifted Ulrich's weight on his back and stretched a little. "Don't worry 'bout Lirril and Damien, those two are at the Factory giving Jeremie instructions. Jeremie and Aelita are in the control room working on making this place go 'boom'."

"That would explain the red, flashing light he muttered as he rested his head on Zephyr's shoulder.

"Don't fall asleep again. You're really hard to keep on my back when you're sleeping and I don't think making you run so soon after being asleep and the virus taken out would be a good idea at all…" Zephyr said as they head out the door to the room they were in.

"Yeah, that wasn't too hard once you two showed up. Eight against two is hard, even when you're xanafied…" Yumi stated as they quickly made their way outside and toward the forest that surrounded the place.

"So now we just sit here and wait?" Odd asked as he stretched on to his back and looked up at the sky.

"Basically. We need to wait for Jeremie and Aelita since Jeremie has the directions back to the Factory," Yumi told him as she sat down.

Zephyr let Ulrich off his back and then stretched. "Bad idea letting genius boy have the map. We should've made a copy so we could get away before they came out. They're being attacked right now by at least one Creator if I had to guess."

"So they're being attacked because they set off the alarm? Why didn't we stay behind and help? !" Odd asked, sitting up quickly and looking toward the building. "Neither of them is the greatest fighter, Aelita's decent, but Jeremie's barely fought in his entire life!"

"Well, we can't go back now. Xana's in there somewhere. He'll help 'em," Aivillia stated.

"They've only got about two minutes left…" Yumi whispered, watching the door they'd come from.

Ulrich looked at the building and saw the smoke rising from the pipes in the roof. It wasn't going to be long before the place would explode. They were far enough away that they wouldn't end up in the blast, but Aelita and Jeremie were still inside and needed to be saved. He had no idea why Xana was inside, but he guessed it had to do with the rescue mission.

Even if Xana caught up with them they might not make it out. He was quicker… He could dodge more stuff, so why couldn't he help?

"I know that look, Trist, and I have to say that what you're thinking is risky," Aivillia said as she sat down next to him. "No matter how quickly you can run or dodge things it still won't matter if they're surrounded. Having gotten to know all your friends Jeremie and Aelita seem like they can handle themselves or I doubt they would have left Zephyr and me behind and not called for back-up if they'd needed it."

"Jeremie's like your tactician, isn't he? Then I think he'll be fine. He can figure out a way out of there. He might not come out this way, we don't know," Zephyr said as he sat down next to Ulrich.

No sign of Jeremie or Aelita and they had about thirty seconds…

Ulrich was counting down the seconds in his head. If they didn't make it out alive and Xana kept tormenting them, there'd be nothing they could do…

Yumi bit her bottom lip and edged forward a little. He figured she was counting, too. There was no way any of them could get down there in time now, though…

Ten seconds and they weren't out. What if they didn't get out? What would they tell everybody?

Five…

This was getting bad…

Four…

They'd better get out…

Three…

Maybe they'd gotten out from the opposite side?

Two…

Ulrich didn't think he could take it if those two died…

One…

Ulrich covered his ears and the others followed suit.

BOOM!

_**A/N: Alright, so less of a filler and more a suspense filled 'you'll have to wait for my next update to see if Jeremie and Aelita are alive' chapter. XD I have an idea of what will happen with the next chapter. XD Hopefully half of it or more than half will be that five minutes before the explosion with Jeremie and Aelita and the aftermath of the explosion. XD**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	31. Back to Kadic

_**Back to Kadic**_

_** A/N: Sorry for the long time taking to update. "XD The order in which the stories will go may be re-arranged. =3 I'll let you know if I change it. I'm still working on finding my old notes for Darkened Moon so that might get moved down ones. =3 I'm not sure yet, though. XD Stupid things keep getting away from me… Anyway, enough of my rambling. X3**_

_** To the story!**_

__Ulrich watched horrified as the smoke cleared and they couldn't see Jeremie or Aelita.

"Do you think…?" Yumi asked, the words getting caught in her throat.

Zephyr shrugged and walked forward, "The building is gone so we need to go and search for them. Jeremie had the last connection with Damien so maybe he knows something."

"Already on it," Aivillia stated as she pulled out her phone and quickly called Damien and Lirril to hear what they heard.

"Make sure that it's Jeremie or Aelita before you help them up or might risk the chance of letting one of the Creators escape this mess. We've got to hurry before the police or someone else shows up and sees us all," Zephyr stated, dashing toward the building—Ulrich following close behind—and began searching.

Aivillia wrapped up on the phone with Damien and then told them all, "Damien says that what he heard was a lot of fighting. I'm surprised to say that most of it was by Jeremie and according to Aelita he was pretty decent at it when he's put in a rough spot. Once he started hearing it go down at the ten second mark he heard some kind of jumbling around, like the phone had been knocked and rubbed up against Jeremie's clothes or something and then Jeremie yelling to Aelita to 'go that way!' and then the explosion and nothing. He may have dropped his phone, but Damien says it's giving off a faint signal about five feet from where Odd's searching."

Odd quickly moved his search to where Aivillia told him the signal was coming from and found Jeremie's cell phone. "Well, that's a dead lead…"

"I bet he dropped it in the commotion of trying to get Aelita to safety…" Ulrich commented as Aivillia began talking to Damien again.

"What about Aelita's phone? Didn't she have one on her?" Aivillia asked, taking the phone away from her ear for a moment.

"Yeah, we've all always got our phones on us," Yumi stated as they saw a black blur erupt from the rubble and land close to Odd.

"Miss me?" Xana asked with a smirk on its face.

"Not really, I was actually hoping you'd died in the explosion!" Odd exclaimed, hiding behind Yumi in case the virus got mad.

"Very nice, little cat, but you're not that lucky. But you are lucky enough to know that I was there when the explosion happened so I know where your computer nerd and nerdess are," It explained, hopping off the rubble and heading toward the road.

"Then tell us," Yumi said out-right as she placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

Ulrich sat on a piece of the old building and heard something creak.

"Well, I suppose the samurai would be sitting on the way to them. You see, the Creators had created a secret room in the control room that lead to an underground cellar. None of them got in there because your nerd blocked the door, but him and Aelita did," it replied as it walked away, back towards Kadic.

"Well, if Jeremie's phone was here and they were in the hallway…" Zephyr began, looking around. "Then that means that if we keep searching in his general direction," he motioned the area with his hands," then we should find them."

Everyone began searching and in no time they found the door and yanked it open.

"Back off!" they heard Jeremie yell, as something was thrown at them, luckily they all dodged it.

Odd yelled down, "Hey Einstein, way to go and attack your friends!"

"What? Odd, is that you?" he asked as him and Aelita made their way up the steps. As they came into full view everyone could see that Jeremie must have fought pretty hard or gotten hit by some of the explosion.

Both geniuses hair was a mess and parts of their clothes had holes.

"Not the best fighter, Jeremie?" Yumi asked as she saw his broken glasses in his pocket.

"Not really, but I managed…" he replied sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck and grinning.

"It was actually quite nice to watch him fight. I didn't barely have to do anything," Aelita added sweetly as they made their way off the building and back into the woods.

"Alright, now to get back to Kadic without being seen leaving here…" Zephyr muttered as he saw someone calling 9-1-1.

"Well, this forest will lead us to the road and then from there we can get to Damien because he's got his car waiting for us," Jeremie explained as the made their way through the forest and little dirt piles.

(*)(*)(*)(*) At Kadic Academy – Sunday 3:15 a.m. (*)(*)(*)(*)

"Alright, I've got to admit that being gone from about nine till 3 in the morning is cutting it close…" Odd whined as he collapsed on his bed, not even bothering to kick off his shoes or change his clothes.

"Odd, quit complaining…" Ulrich yawned as he slid quickly into his pajamas and laid down on his bed.

"Oh you be quiet… We did it to save you so," Odd yawned again, "you should be down on your knees thanking me…"

Ulrich chuckled and rolled over, "Sure thing, Odd… Tomorrow…"

(*)(*)(*)(*)Later that Day – 1:00 p.m.(*)(*)(*)(*)

"Alright, now that we've all missed breakfast and lunch," Jeremie stated from his computer chair in his room to his friends, Zephyr, and Aivillia.

"Don't remind me!" Odd complained as he pretended to die, which brought a chuckle from just about everyone in the room.

"Be serious, please," Zephyr complained from his place against the door.

Aivillia threw a pillow at him to shush him and everyone returned their attention to Jeremie.

"I think that we've taken care of most of the Creators by now…" he stated which brought some excited looks from everyone in the room.

"Zender, Aiko, and Amelina are now helping us out and living with the other AIs on Lyoko and as a 'no hard feelings' push Xana stopped his control over the Council.

"Now it's our job to weed out the remaining Creators," Zephyr stated as he pushed himself off the door.

"I think that it's better if you leave it to us or else you guys might end up dead. Zephyr, Tristam, Father, or I could have gotten out of the building before the explosion even if we had ten seconds. It's safer for us to go," Aivillia stated as she stood beside Zephyr.

"Don't worry, bro, we don't expect you to come with us," Zephyr stated and everyone looked back at the two.

"Weren't not going to take you from your friends, but you've got to visit here and there," Aivillia told him as the two made their way out.

Ulrich let out a sigh of relief. Now with the Creators gone things could finally go back to normal… Or whatever normal would be from now on…

_**A/N: The end! X3 I didn't think this would be the end either, but don't worry. X3 There's one more extra chapter to this story. ^-^ And I think you guys will love it. XD Awkwardness, hilarity, and some family time. XD**_

_** Read and review! (I'm almost to 100!)**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


	32. Extra: The Meeting

_**Extra: The Meeting**_

_** A/N: I promised this and here it is. X3 Ulrich's family meets the Sterns. XD IMPORTANT NOTE: Just so you don't get confused, Ulrich will refer to Andraus as Andraus or his other name (mentioned in the story) and the Sterns as Mom and Dad. =3**_

_** To the story!**_

__Ulrich frowned and kept walking. Okay, so Aivillia and Zephyr had been looking for a Creator all day. Big whoop. This had been planned for months now and his mom had been expecting them over thirty minutes ago.

"Aivillia, you've got to stop complaining. It's not that big of a deal and you knew that this was coming," Andraus explained as they walked.

"My feet hurt, my back hurts, I'm dead tired, and I'm starving. How am I supposed to _not_ complain?" she asked as they followed Ulrich toward the Sterns.

"You could get off your butt and get some exercise and you wouldn't be so tired," Zephyr explained as he raised her arms behind his head. "I'm not complaining. It's barely a work-out for me."

Aivillia glared, but shut up.

Sighing Ulrich knew it was going to be a long night. He'd stayed with Andraus, Aivillia, and Zephyr that night at their house, but they were going to dinner at the Sterns and that's where Ulrich would be staying that night.

It had been a few months since the incident with being trapped in the Creators building and he'd told his parents about finding his family. They'd been shocked at first, but they'd talked with Andraus over the phone and got it set-up for Ulrich to spend time with both families since the Sterns were still his legal guardians. Andraus preferred to keep it that way so that Ulrich wouldn't have to deal with being at that house all the time. Ulrich got to go to Andraus's whenever he wanted as long as he asked the night before.

"So Dad's going to be Andrew and Tristam's Tristan, right?" Zephyr asked as they neared the Stern household.

"Yeah, but it kinda sounds out of place since our names are so short," Aivillia stated, getting her normal vigor back.

"Not with Andrew or Sandra," Zephyr explained, using their mom's other name.

"It still does to me," she stated as they walked onto the lawn.

Ulrich rolled his eyes at her and rang the doorbell then walked inside. "I'm back!"

"We're in the living room!" his mom called back.

Ulrich lead the way to the living room and took a seat and waited for everyone to get situated.

"It's nice to finally meet you," his mom said with a smile when everyone sat down. Aivillia had curled up on the couch and Zephyr and Andraus had taken two separate chairs that sat next to one another.

Ulrich looked over at his dad and saw the scowl on his face at the way Aivillia was behaving. She just had to lay down, though, didn't she?

"Ulrich never told us what you guys liked to eat so I just made barbeque chicken and parsley noodles," his mom stated as she looked over at her husband.

"It's nice to meet you," he stated without really meaning it.

Andraus's eyes popped open and he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I'm sorry, we forgot to introduce ourselves. My name is Andrew and those are my other two children. Seth and Lia."

"Dad, don't even ask the question I know you're going to ask. Our mom died in the fire that you found me from," he stated, coming up with the lie right off the top of his head. He knew that they couldn't tell the truth because they'd think them insane. Plus, they'd have to tell about Lyoko and everything and that wasn't just his decision.

His dad cleared his throat, clearly a little embarrassed. He excused himself and went to the kitchen.

"I apologize for my husband…" his mom said, looking toward Andraus. "He can be a little bit high strung and over critical… Ulrich knows what it's like first hand, but he's really not a bad guy…"

"It's alright, I know I'd probably assume the same thing if I saw three kids like mine with a man that didn't have a wife," Andraus said with a small laugh.

Ulrich knew that wasn't the truth, but he wasn't going to say a thing about it.

"I'm going to go check on dinner, excuse me…" his mom said, leaving the room.

"Well, your dad seems quite pleasant," Aivillia stated as she stretched a little bit and sat up.

"I warned you about him and you went and laid down anyway. You know he probably thinks we're not taken care of now," Ulrich stated, looking at her with a hint of anger.

"Well then, we'll just have to change his mind, won't we?" Andraus asked, a hint of excitement in his eyes.

"Dear ol' Dad just loves a challenge!" Zephyr exclaimed with a laugh as Ulrich's mom walked back in the room.

"It's all finished and my husband is already sitting at the table," she stated.

"Finally!" Aivillia exclaimed. "I'm famished!"

Ulrich sent a little glare her way as they made their way towards the dining room.

Once they'd all taken their seat they began eating.

"So Mr. Stern, what do you do for a living?" Andraus asked between bites of food.

"I'm the CEO of a major cooperation. My wife is the business's vice president," he replied quickly, avoiding Andraus's eye.

"Well, that seems like it would be difficult and hard to get that high," Andraus stated, sounding interested.

"It was. When I turned sixteen I started going to work with my father and he showed me the ropes. I already knew all my colleagues and the boss by the time I was eighteen and able to begin working there. It's where I met my wife," he replied, a small smile lighting up his face.

_Way to go and get him talking about his job. How did he know that's what Dad likes to talk about? _Ulrich thought to himself as he smiled and ate his food. If Andraus kept going like this he'd be his dad's best friend.

"So what do you do for a living?" his mom asked, trying to make conversation.

"I'm the mayor of the town that we live in. Before that, though, I worked in the world of business just like you Mr. Stern," he said, looking to see the small smile on Mr. Stern's face as he ate his food.

(*)(*)(*)(*)Later(*)(*)(*)(*)

He was shocked, to say the least. Zephyr and Andraus seemed to get along well with his dad. It was now pushing midnight and the three hadn't stopped talking. Aivillia had fallen asleep on his bedroom floor and his mom had gone to bed just minutes ago, telling everyone good-night and reminding Ulrich that he should be headed towards bed, also.

He knew he wouldn't sleep much. His father was actually getting along with someone he knew. It could be a monumental breakthrough that might make his father lift up a bit on his friends and the pressure to make perfect grades. It might-

"Ulrich, get to bed. I want to see some studying out of you tomorrow," his dad said and then turned back to Zephyr and Andraus.

Alright, so one step at a time. He might let up eventually, he decided as he headed up the stairs and into bed.

_**A/N: I decided I wanted his dad to like Andraus and Zephyr. XD Of course, Aivillia's too pushy for him. XD I'll be updating 'One Letter' here soon and when I get that last chapter out (there's only two more) I'll let you know what I'm going to be writing next. =3**_

_** Read and review!**_

_**~MoonlitxAngel**_


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